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| 2 | %%Image kept on page per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1655939035077887700 |
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| 5 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ntsc_front.jpg]] |
| 6 | [[caption-width-right:350:"Show your face, Lynx! Yer 9 lives are up!"]] |
| 7 | |
| 8 | ->''"What was the start of all this? When did the cogs of fate begin to turn? Perhaps it is impossible to grasp that answer now, from deep within the flow of time..."'' |
| 9 | -->-- '''OpeningMonologue''' |
| 10 | |
| 11 | ''Chrono Cross'', a RolePlayingGame developed by Creator/{{Square|Soft}} for the Platform/PlayStation, is the sequel to ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger''. More specifically, it is a remake, or re-imagining, or sequel (sort of -- it's [[ContinuitySnarl confusing]]) to ''VisualNovel/RadicalDreamers'', a VisualNovel based on the ''Chrono'' [[TheVerse 'verse]], handled by Masato Kato, the only returning creative lead from ''Chrono Trigger''. |
| 12 | |
| 13 | The story revolves around Serge, a village boy who accidentally blunders into an AlternateUniverse while trying to get a gift for his sweetheart. This other world is mostly similar to his own, but has a number of very important differences. For starters, in the other world, [[ItsAWonderfulPlot he's dead]]. This scenario leads to Serge trying to learn why he's so important to both timelines, getting dragged along on an adventure by a certain pugnacious Aussie girl, mastering the art of dimension-hopping between his Home World and Another World, and, just maybe, saving all of space and time. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | [[Characters/ChronoCross There's much more]], including a [[SinisterScythe scythe]]-wielding [[CatFolk cat-man]] with a personal interest in Serge, an [[FaceHeelRevolvingDoor ambiguously]] aligned [[VillainousHarlequin harlequin]], dragon knights, pirates, a [[MaskedLuchador luchador]]-[[ReligiousBruiser priest]], cyborgs, musicians who fight with ThePowerOfRock, dragons, robots, a masked magician, dinosaurs, an undead clown, aliens, and a living turnip, adding up to a grand total of 45 playable characters. There isn't room on the page for the charts and diagrams necessary to explain all the [[KudzuPlot tangled plots]] and [[GambitPileup overlapping schemes]] going on. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | Much of the team that made this game (aside from Kato) would leave Square after this title and form Creator/MonolithSoft. There were rumors of a sequel when Square registered trademarks for ''Chrono Brake'' and ''Chrono Break'', but a follow-up has yet to materialize, although elements of the intended plot of the sequel were eventually used in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyDimensionsII''. |
| 18 | |
| 19 | Masato Kato eventually returned to this cast in his CreatorDrivenSuccessor, ''VideoGame/AnotherEden'', as part of an official crossover story with ''Chrono Cross'' written by him, which released on December 9, 2021. |
| 20 | |
| 21 | ''Chrono Cross'' finally became available on the [=PlayStation=] Network as a [=PSone=] Classic title for those who missed the game the first time around. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | An [[UpdatedRerelease HD remaster]] for Platform/NintendoSwitch, Platform/Playstation4, Platform/{{Steam}}, and Platform/XboxOne was released on April 7, 2022, including the previously Japan-only ''VisualNovel/RadicalDreamers''. |
| 24 | ---- |
| 25 | !!This game provides examples of: |
| 26 | |
| 27 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 28 | |
| 29 | [[folder:A - E]] |
| 30 | * AbsurdlyHighLevelCap: Taken straight into AntiGrinding territory. The maximum star level is 99, which only goes up after defeating a boss, along with some minor stat growths for a few battles after that. The maximum number of bosses you can face on any one playthrough is 48. This means that, if you want to hit the maximum level, you've got to beat the game twice, then play some way into the game for a third time before hitting the cap. |
| 31 | * ActionPrologue: The game begins with an action/tutorial dream sequence which foreshadows an extended gameplay sequence from a (much) later dungeon. |
| 32 | * ActuallyADoombot: The game pulls this early on, when building up Lynx as the BigBad, before the party finally fights him... a third of the way through Disc One. After beating him, it turns out you were fighting one of Lynx's cat-like "shadow" minions, which he had transformed into his own likeness. |
| 33 | * ActuallyFourMooks: You touch one enemy on the map, you're in battle with 2-4. |
| 34 | * AdvertisedExtra: |
| 35 | ** Most notably, despite being a main character, Kid can be totally and repeatedly rebuffed by the player, and will spend a couple significant stretches of the game not being playable no matter what you do. She is completely unavailable when playing as Lynx, and can only be rerecruited just before the VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon. |
| 36 | ** This also debatably, ''sort of'' applies to the player character himself, Serge, in an oblique sort of way. At the end of the first act, Lynx pulls a GrandTheftMe on Serge. For the entire second act of the game, you play as Serge in Lynx's body, and you have to recruit a new set of allies. By the time Serge finally gets his body back, there are only two major dungeons left in the story. Taking sidequests into account, it is possible to spend over half the game in Lynx's shoes, though Serge is still at the proverbial wheel. |
| 37 | * AfterCombatRecovery: If the player has any healing elements left over after battle, the game will offer to use them for instant healing. Also, the games will revive knocked out characters after a battle, giving them 1 HP. |
| 38 | * AIBreaker: A few bosses can be completely short-circuited by knowing how to interrupt the AI's pattern with your own actions. |
| 39 | ** There is an incredibly difficult {{Superboss}} who is vulnerable to this. He counters every element you cast on him with an opposite-color element of his own, but in doing so he delays his own turn, and most of his counters deal no damage. Cast a red element on him every single turn you get and he'll never touch you. This is particularly handy because it lets you get Serge's InfinityMinusOneSword way, way [[DiscOneNuke before you're supposed to]]. If you're willing to wait a ''tiny'' bit longer, you can get some ElementalAbsorption armor and abuse him further by provoking him into using his one damaging counterattack to ''heal'' one of your characters constantly. |
| 40 | ** The Green Dragon, similarly. His challenge comes from his tendency to cast Carnivore, a powerful green-elemental spell. But he only casts Carnivore if the entire element field is green. So, if you cast a weak non-green spell every time the field becomes fully green, he'll spend most of the fight casting Green Field. Or, hell, bring a dozen Carnivore traps and go to town. |
| 41 | * AIIsACrapshoot: Zig-zagged with FATE, the main computer controlling Chronopolis. On the one hand, it's perfectly happy to influence events to get a whole mess of people killed (and personally murder the protagonists while it's at it), but it's really [[IDidWhatIHadToDo just doing what it has to]] in order to fulfill the mission it was given -- [[spoiler:avoiding a time paradox by making sure it doesn't change history to the extent that Chronopolis never comes to exist in the future]]. At the same time, though, FATE seems to have been [[spoiler:corrupted by the influence of the Frozen Flame]], so it may well be insane anyway. |
| 42 | * AirplaneArms: Harle. |
| 43 | * AlienSky: Dual moons, one white and one red, despite both ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' and ''VisualNovel/RadicalDreamers'' only having one. This is actually a plot point; the Second Moon came into existence when [[spoiler:Dinopolis was pulled into the world during the Time Crash]]. |
| 44 | * AllInARow: On the world map, the two secondary party members follow Serge around like this. |
| 45 | * AllMythsAreTrue: Subverted; some of the legends you hear early in the game about the Frozen Flame and the Dragon Gods turn out to be perversions of the truth, if not outright falsities. Unfortunately, this has the side effect of making the game's already [[JigsawPuzzlePlot dense narrative]] even more confusing. |
| 46 | * AllThereInTheManual: The game's plot ''can'' stand on its own, but you'll get a lot more out of it if you've played ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' and ''VisualNovel/RadicalDreamers''. The DS remake of ''Chrono Trigger'' -- which came out well after ''Chrono Cross'' was released -- ''also'' has some added content that retroactively reinforces the link between the two games. |
| 47 | * AlmightyJanitor: The Sage of Marbule, mopping floors on Fargo's casino cruiseliner for a living, while in actuality being the spiritual leader of Marbule's demihumans. |
| 48 | * AlternateSelf: The game makes extensive use of Alternate Selves, given the two different timelines. Most locals to the archipelago have an alternate you can visit, though in some cases they're not around (or dead). This is true of most NPC characters as well as party members, and exploring the differences between them is a large part of the game. |
| 49 | * AlternateTimeline: Much of the temporal nastiness is the result of two alternate futures clashing in the world's distant past. It's complicated. |
| 50 | * AlternateUniverse: The game had alternate universes replacing time travel as the main hook. |
| 51 | * AlternateWorldMap: One for Home World, one for Another World. It's a bit of a toss up which counts as the "alternate", though. While you start in Home World, you're sent to Another almost immediately, and spend the first half of the game there -- meaning that when you finally return to Home World, it feels strange and unfamiliar compared to what you're used to in Another. [[spoiler: At the end of the game, Crono's shade reveals that Another World is the "true" timeline following the events of ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'', while Home World is an alternate timeline that split off when Kid in the future travels back to prevent Serge's death.]] |
| 52 | * AlwaysCheckBehindTheChair: All over the place. |
| 53 | * AlwaysSaveTheGirl: Subverted twice: |
| 54 | ** When presented with the question of whether or not you're going to save [[spoiler:Kid from Lynx's poison]], you can declare that of course you will, or confess that you're not sure that you ''can''. Though at first it seems like a ButThouMust, this is actually one of the game's branching points; each answer sends you down a different plot path (including [[GuideDangIt making different characters recruitable]]). |
| 55 | ** Later on, Harle asks Serge what he'd do if he had to pick between saving her, or saving the world. The player can pick either answer, but if he picks her, she laughs and says she knows he's lying. |
| 56 | * AmazingTechnicolorBattlefield: The Darkness Beyond Time, where the final battle takes place. |
| 57 | * AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent: The game does this with both main character and party members, but in an unusual way. [[spoiler: Your antagonist [[GrandTheftMe body-swaps you]]. Your old party members stay behind with "Serge" and you're forced to recruit and equip a new party as Lynx for a good third of the game.]] |
| 58 | * AngelFaceDemonFace: Pip changes his appearance based on whether you use predominantly Light or Dark Elements in battle, becoming more "angelic" or "demonic". |
| 59 | * AngstComa: [[spoiler:Kid enters one]] after dicking about with the Frozen Flame. |
| 60 | * AngstySurvivingTwin: Orlha. |
| 61 | * AnotherDimension: The beginning of the game revolves around the main character being pulled from his "Home World" to "Another World", an alternate timeline where he's been ''dead'' for ten years. |
| 62 | * AntiFrustrationFeatures: You can run away from literally any fight in the game. If you're losing to a boss, you can escape, and while some of them will just [[YouWillNotEvadeMe draw you back into the fight]], it'll at least reset your elements and give you a chance to heal. |
| 63 | ** Getting the good ending requires using the element colors in a specific order, which the final boss will do its utmost to screw up. However, the boss is slow and entering the steps correctly delays its turn. Generally, successfully getting at least three steps into the sequence means you're golden (so long as you've noticed the [[GuideDangIt subtle hints]] telling you the sequence, of course). |
| 64 | ** The HD Remaster added several more. The Time Shifter is given to you from the very beginning instead of waiting for NewGamePlus, meaning you can now seriously lower the length of battles and beat that dragon feeding minigame on your first try. There's also an option to turn off enemy encounters and boost your party's power if a boss fight is really annoying you. The latter is particularly useful for grinding Shiny materials as it makes it so your Elemental Level is permanently maxed out and thus never drops, so all you have to do is fill the field color. |
| 65 | * AntiGrinding: It's impossible to LevelGrind, meaning you also can't just level up to burst through difficult boss fights. Your characters do get stat gains, but they're directly linked to plot progression and gaining "stars", which expands their element grid, for completing boss fights. |
| 66 | * ApocalypseHow: Omniversal Metaphysical Annihilation -- as apocalyptic as you can possibly get. [[spoiler:The Time Devourer intends to consume all timelines, destroying everything that exists and ever has existed or ever will exist]]. |
| 67 | * ArbitraryHeadcountLimit: In a game with 45 playable characters, you're only allowed three in battle, [[CantDropTheHero and one of them must always be the main character]], except in NewGamePlus where you can replace him. |
| 68 | * ArmCannon: Grobyc (note the [[SdrawkcabName Sdrawkcab]] significance). |
| 69 | * TheArtifact: Serge being a HeroicMime. Like most silent protagonists, Crono from ''Chrono Trigger'' was mute and a blank slate so that players could more easily project themselves onto him, but Serge turns out to actually have a fairly complex backstory, which defeats the whole purpose. It gets even more awkward and purpose-defeating when [[spoiler:Serge and Lynx switch bodies]] and now the "silent" protagonist is suddenly ''talking'', with none of the other characters finding this unusual in the slightest. |
| 70 | * ArtifactOfDoom: The Frozen Flame is the main one, but the Masamune also counts. |
| 71 | * ArtificialStupidity: Some enemies, particularly bosses, use set patterns and react in predictable ways to specific actions. This makes it possible to defeat them ridiculously easy by exploiting their programming. See AIBreaker, above. |
| 72 | * ArtEvolution: ''The Radical Dreamers Edition'' features an option to polish up the graphics and the in-game character art to be more defined. |
| 73 | ** Notably, character portraits are brighter-looking and more defined. There is the fact that some unique portraits were discarded over simply cropping up the top portions of the full character artwork as the portraits. |
| 74 | *** On a somewhat lesser extent, there is a difference between character portraits used by playable characters and [=NPCs=]: the playable characters possess slightly more defined portraits while [=NPCs=]' have more animesque portraits. |
| 75 | * ArtShiftedSequel: Whereas the art in ''Chrono Trigger'' was done primarily by Creator/AkiraToriyama, the art in ''Chrono Cross'' is done by Nobuteru Yūki and Yasuyuki Honne, and being on the 32-bit [[Platform/PlayStation PS1]] versus the 16-bit [[Platform/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem SNES]], the art styles of the two games are as different as night and day. This actually helps to hide a major plot point: [[spoiler: that Kid is a clone of Schala, because Kid looks nothing like the Schala we know from ''Trigger'', but she ''does'' look like Schala's redesign in this game seen at the very end]]. |
| 76 | ** What is interesting is that on rare occasions you will see a clear Toriyama design from Trigger inserted into this game's world, with the result being quite jarring; one notable example being [[spoiler: the combined form of Masa & Mune when Serge performs Flying Arrow with the Mastermune equipped, as seen [[https://okdiario.com/guiltybit/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/tecnicas-de-Chrono-Cross.webp here]]]]. |
| 77 | * ArtStyleDissonance: The brightly-colored and often hand-painted visuals contrast sharply with the serious and often dark themes explored by the narrative. |
| 78 | * AscendedFridgeHorror: When Marle is temporarily removed from the timestream early in ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'', she's still alive and conscious in some sort of void. ''Chrono Cross'' explores the implications of changing history and condemning ''timelines'' to that void. |
| 79 | * AssKicksYou: One of Macha's Techs. |
| 80 | * {{Atlantis}}: Dinopolis is a Reptite civilization merged into the story's universe from an AlternateUniverse to counteract the influence of [[spoiler:Chronopolis. Chronopolis promptly defeated Dinopolis and ruined it. The ruins became Sky Dragon Isle.]] |
| 81 | * AttendingYourOwnFuneral: Though Serge isn't there in time for the funeral, Serge does visit his grave in Another World and is found there by people who know he "should" be dead. |
| 82 | * AttractMode: Featuring ''The Dream That Time Dreams'', one of the best songs on the soundtrack. |
| 83 | * AwardBaitSong: Radical Dreamers ~ Unstolen Jewel. |
| 84 | * AwesomeAussie: Kid, the fiery teenage thief. |
| 85 | * AwesomeButImpractical: The [[SummonMagic Summon Elements]] are impressive-looking, but require you to convert the entire field to their alignment color before use, making them more trouble than they're worth if you're just trying to kill things. This is mitigated by the existence of "Field" elements that turn the entire field their respective colors, meaning it only takes ''one'' turn of setup instead of three, but it's still often just as easy to kill things without summons. (What they ''are'' useful for is turning enemies into "shiny" items needed to forge the best equipment.) |
| 86 | * BackForTheDead: ''Robo'' from ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'', or at least a copy of his programming (as he is a robot), shows up for approximately two minutes just before being deleted. |
| 87 | * BackgroundMagicField: This is a battle mechanic. The magic field is always of a certain elemental type, and can be influenced through spellcasting. The (elemental) color of the magic field determines how powerful magic of that type is, and in order to use SummonMagic the field needs to be the specific entity's color. |
| 88 | * BadassAdorable: Leah, a six-year-old CuteBruiser caveman (cavegirl?) and Marcy, one of the four Dragoon Devas and a nine-year-old LittleMissBadass. |
| 89 | * BadassFamily: Fargo's family (consisting of the man himself, his children [[spoiler:Nikki and Marcy]], and his sister-in-law [[spoiler:Irenes]]) make up one very badass family. ''All'' recruitable, by the way. |
| 90 | * BadFuture: According to Miguel and Balthazar, unless the Time Devourer is surgically removed from the timeline, the Dead Sea will eventually overtake reality. [[spoiler:Merging the timelines and temporally removing Schala from the Time Devourer to implant her into the new perfect timeline counts as surgically removing it from ''all'' timelines since it no longer can reach out to them from the Darkness Beyond Time.]] |
| 91 | * BadMoonRising: The theme of Harle's techs. Belthasar later exposes her as the [[spoiler:Dark Moon Dragon]]. |
| 92 | * BadPresent: Another Arni. The ripple effect of Serge's death casts a pall over the village. Even a fisherman's giant catch of the day (a swordfish) [[EnvironmentalSymbolism has gone missing]]. |
| 93 | ** The opposite is true for Lynx: Home World is under occupation by Porre, Viper's statue has been removed, and the Manor has been demolished. None of this has any relation to Serge--or indeed the player--until this point, as Serge's movements in Home World [[FridgeBrilliance are restricted to Arni Village]]. |
| 94 | * BareFistedMonk: Among the many characters, a few are 'unarmed' in the traditional sense. However, not many of them are actually martial artists. The unarmed (and, in two cases, nonhumanoid) fighters still equip 'gloves' as weapons, though. |
| 95 | * BashBrothers: Double and especially Triple Techs. |
| 96 | * BatmanGambit: The entire plot is ''three'' of these vying for supremacy. The ringleaders are [[spoiler:FATE, Lavos, and Schala.]] |
| 97 | * BattleAmongstTheFlames: The aptly-named Burning Orphanage sequence. |
| 98 | * BattleBoomerang: Boomerangs are also a weapon and are one of the few weapon types that can hit multiple enemies. |
| 99 | * TheBattleDidntCount: After [[spoiler:Lynx [[GrandTheftMe swaps bodies]] with Serge]], you're matched up against your old allies in three-to-one odds, and in the first playthrough they are going to kick your ass, period. But in a NewGamePlus, you ''can'' win... yet [[spoiler:Kid will somehow manage to get up and stab you anyway]]. |
| 100 | * BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind: After Kid comes into contact with the Frozen Flame, she falls into a deep coma. Masa and Mune determine that the only way to revive her is to delve into her subconscious; this deposits Serge in her memories of the burning orphanage. |
| 101 | * BattleThemeMusic: "Gale" for regular battles and "The Brink of Death" for boss battles, with a variation of Lucca's Theme from ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' for the victory fanfare. The penultimate boss has a unique battle theme, "Dragon God", and the FinalBoss has no music at all. |
| 102 | * BeastMan: The demihumans mostly fall into this trope, with their nonhuman characteristics drawing from an impressively-broad array of creatures, although some of them, such as the recruitable Janice, border on being simply a LittleBitBeastly instead. |
| 103 | * BeatTheCurseOutOfHim: The Porre military has used a cursed fruit to bring out Orcha's monstrous hidden evil side. As soon as you beat him, he immediately returns to his senses. |
| 104 | ** [[spoiler: Dario and the spirit of his father Garai, both victims of the corrupted Masamune's evil influence]], also count since they return to normal once you defeat them. The latter's case is debatable, [[spoiler: since Garai's spirit DOES appear and eggs Dario on before his boss fight, despite the fact that you defeated him earlier and it appears that his spirit has been pacified.]] |
| 105 | * BettingMiniGame: Fargo's roulette wheel. Amusingly, once it's no longer rigged, it's possible to cheat the house by pressing pause in mid-spin. |
| 106 | * BewareTheSillyOnes: Solt and Peppor are the QuirkyMinibossSquad, HeKnowsAboutTimedHits, and GoldfishPoopGang all rolled up into two rather silly and bumbling brothers. That is until [[spoiler:they call out their superior, Karsh, for the murder of Dario, upon which they drop all the silliness and become a genuinely challenging boss fight.]] |
| 107 | * BGMOverride: Several times. |
| 108 | ** The game's opening DreamSequence has a slightly altered version of "Between Life and Death" (the BattleThemeMusic for {{Boss Battle}}s) playing the entire time. |
| 109 | ** The song "Prisoners of Fate" plays during Miguel's ExpositionBreak in the Dead Sea, and then continues during the BossBattle with him. |
| 110 | ** The Marbule sequence has the song "Magical Dreamers ~ The Wind, Stars, and Waves" overriding the normal music. Makes sense, as it's SourceMusic being played by Nikki and his band at the time. |
| 111 | ** "Orphan of Flame" plays throughout the entire burning orphanage scene. |
| 112 | * BigBad: [[spoiler: The Dragonians [[BigBadEnsemble and]] FATE, with the added wrinkle that the latter is a NecessaryEvil -- a bulwark against the Dragonians, which are evolved Reptites, and their alternate universe, which seeks to invade this one, though all of them were manipulated by Belthasar, all in an effort to stop the true BigBad, the Time Devourer, an evolved form of Lavos, the BigBad from ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'']]. |
| 113 | * BigGood: [[spoiler:Belthasar]] is the big good, as well as TheChessmaster. |
| 114 | * BigNo: Radius screams an all-caps Big "NO!" after [[spoiler:the evil power of the Masamune causes him to kill his best friend Garai]]. |
| 115 | * BittersweetEnding: The main ending is bittersweet in that [[spoiler:defeating the Time Devourer necessarily hits a ResetButton on the events of the game as it recombines Home World and Another World]]. Serge ends up [[spoiler:back on Opassa Beach with Leena, apparently having never been pulled into Another World in the first place]]. It's shown that he [[spoiler:remembers the events of the game, but it's unclear whether anyone else involved does or not -- Leena doesn't, but Home Leena]] never knew anything about what was happening anyway, so it's ambiguous. It's also hinted that [[spoiler:Serge and Kid]] may reunite... somewhere, sometime offscreen. |
| 116 | * {{Bizarrchitecture}}: Surely the Tower of Geddon qualifies. The building itself is the remnant of a TimeCrash, containing chunks of many a future -- and one aborted present. It's just as screwed up as you'd expect it to be. |
| 117 | * BlackEyesOfEvil: The boss "Hell Orcha" has black eyes with [[RedEyesTakeWarning red pupils]]. |
| 118 | * TheBlacksmith: Zappa (his wife has a similar build). |
| 119 | * BleakLevel: The Dead Sea, a city where [[TimeCrash time is essentially broken]]. It's every bit as eerie as it sounds. |
| 120 | * BokeAndTsukkomiRoutine: Solt and Peppor display this kind of interplay during their boss fights. In fact, when we meet their Home World versions, they are doing this routine as a comedy duo on Fargo's ship. |
| 121 | * BookEnds: The opening and ending cutscenes both begin with a few lines from a letter to the protagonist[[PaintingTheMedium /player]] in the form of a journal, signed [[spoiler:Schala "Kid" Zeal]]. Oddly, this FramingDevice is never brought up outside of those two brief scenes. |
| 122 | * BootstrappedTheme: Lucca's fanfare has been recycled for the victory theme which plays after a battle. Word is the theme was originally intended to be ''Trigger's'' victory fanfare, but the idea was dropped; thus, no music plays at all. |
| 123 | * BossCorridor: A pleasant example on Sky Dragon Isle: a long stairway decorated with greenery and plant life. [[spoiler:Later revisited as Terra Tower, with ghastly faces in place of the vines.]] |
| 124 | * BossInMookClothing: |
| 125 | ** The [[FlunkyBoss Beebas]] the first time you fight them. The game doesn't recognize them as a boss, but there are five of them, they will attack you ''between your attacks'', and have around 300 HP (very high at that point in the game). |
| 126 | ** The Centaurpedes of Another World's Hydra Marshes. They look like regular encounters but are ''much'' tougher than anything in the area, even more than some bosses you previously fought. You can fight them as early as you get in Another World for the first time. |
| 127 | ** The Highwayman, which at first just seems to be a scripted encounter. Then you find out it's got a mountain of health, sizeable defense, and an attack that blinds the whole party. |
| 128 | * {{Bowdlerize}}: In the original, the Tragedienne that uses Suck Blood leaves a suggestive pause between the words 'suck' and 'blood' when introducing herself. The pause was edited out in the remaster. |
| 129 | * BraggingRightsReward: Getting all the playable characters. It requires you to play the game three times on the same file via NewGamePlus, and you can't actually get the characters from previous playthroughs back until near the end of the game anyway. |
| 130 | * BrattyHalfPint: RoyalBrat Marcy (who, as a [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership Dragoon Deva]], is also LittleMissBadass) and Korcha's [[AnnoyingYoungerSibling little sister]] Mel. |
| 131 | * BrokenAesop: |
| 132 | ** The overarching moral of the story seems to be, in a nutshell, ScrewDestiny. The game's version of "fate" turns out to be [[spoiler:a single being manipulating events to its own ends]], which the game's protagonists oppose throughout the game. Where the brokenness comes in is that they end up [[spoiler:being manipulated by a ''different'' entity]], whose ultimate goals ''also'' conflict with theirs. But everything turns out okay in the end, because ultimately everything was a BatmanGambit orchestrated by [[spoiler:a ''third'' person, whose goals ''do'' align with the protagonists']]. The takeaway seems to be less "ScrewDestiny" and more "pick your [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]] wisely". Another possible interpretation is that the story only says "humans should be allowed to follow their own destiny": [[spoiler:Belthasar, the aforementioned {{Chessmaster}}, is a human]], so this ''technically'' counts as humanity deciding for itself even if it was one deciding for the rest of them. Seeing how this game is from Japan, it would match with many cultural themes. |
| 133 | ** A subplot of the game is a GreenAesop, with various demihumans complaining about humanity's disrespect for the environment. The problem is that humans seem to live quite in harmony in nature -- the islands are generally lush and verdant, and there aren't any sort of environmental problems outside the few isolated times the game decides to bring up the subject. It doesn't help that the main group pushing this message, the dwarves, decide to [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope Jump Off the Slippery Slope]] and [[spoiler:use smog-belching tanks to ''commit genocide'']] while obtaining themselves a new home after their original becomes uninhabitable. |
| 134 | * BulletSeed: [=NeoFio=], with her Pop Pop Pop tech. |
| 135 | * BurnTheOrphanage: Lynx, evil panther-man villain, burned down an orphanage (in flashback), in case you didn't already hate him enough. |
| 136 | * ButThouMust: Notably averted with Kid, who you never actually have to recruit despite being a main character. She'll show up independent of the party at plot-important moments. PlayedForLaughs if/when you recruit Nikki; he offers to play a song for you, and your possible responses are "No thanks", "Nah", and "Maybe later". |
| 137 | * ButterflyOfDoom: The ethics of time travel were briefly touched on in ''Trigger'', but ''Cross'' alludes to the heroes of that game [[spoiler:getting killed by various factions across history]] because they meddled with history too much. [[spoiler:Crono and Marle presided over the Porre invasion of Guardia, Lucca was assassinated by Lynx, and Robo is yanked offline by FATE]]. |
| 138 | * CagedInsideAMonster: [[spoiler:Schala turns up during the final battle inside a crystal, which is actually the backside of the Time Devourer. Freeing Schala without killing her is how you unlock the GoldenEnding.]] |
| 139 | * CallBack: The game features several Call Backs to ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'', in particular the Dead Sea area and a portion of the game in which the player character is transported to [[spoiler:Lucca's house]]. |
| 140 | * CamelCase: [=AbilityNames=] and [=EnemyNames=] are formatted this way in the [[Platform/PlayStation PS1]] original. Averted in the remaster, which adds spaces and punctuation to the names where you'd expect it. |
| 141 | * CaneFu: [[OldMaster Radius]] and [[ShapeShifting Sprigg]] both use canes to beat on monsters, and are both good examples of WhenEldersAttack. |
| 142 | * CanisLatinicus: The game translates "where angels lose their way" as "Angelus Errare". In fact, that phrase is not conjugated or declined. The correct translation would be "Quo angeli errant". |
| 143 | * CantDropTheHero: Until New Game+, that is (though his overworld model isn't replaced even if you remove him from the battle party). |
| 144 | * CaptainObvious: Karsh pulls this at one point. |
| 145 | -->'''Marcy:''' I HATE YOU!!!!!! I hate your friends, your mom, your dad, your grandma, your grandpa, your great-grandma, your... I HATE THEM ALL!!!!!! I hate you! I despise you! I REALLY, REALLY, ABHOR YOU!!!!!!\ |
| 146 | '''Karsh:''' Gah-hah-hah! Looks like she can't stand you. |
| 147 | * CatchPhrase: Peppor replaces his verbs with "shake" and Solt repetitively repeats his adverbs and adjectives (eg, "truly true" or "perfectly perfect"). |
| 148 | * CatsAreMean: ''Chrono Cross'' plays with this. TheHeavy, Lynx, has a strong feline aesthetic theme, and Serge has childhood trauma related to a panther demon. [[spoiler:This, as it turns out, is not coincidental.]] On the other hand, other feline [=NPCs=], demihuman and straight-up cat alike, are generally pretty chill and benign, even helpful on occasion, and certainly no more malignant than [=NPCs=] of any other descriptor. |
| 149 | ** Lynx, the main villain, is a six foot tall anthropomorphic panther, and a number of his actions (both in backstory and in-game) are incredibly cruel. While it could be argued that his true identity [[spoiler: as FATE]] makes much of what he does a case of IDidWhatIHadToDo from his perspective, that doesn't explain (or justify) how manipulative and diabolical he tends to act while carrying it out. |
| 150 | ** Played with and subverted with the leonine demihumans. None of them are particularly antagonistic (in fact the only feline enemies you face in battle aside from Lynx and his "shadows" are the [=CatBurglars=] of Mount Pyre), and while the ones in Marbule are contemptuous of humans, they don't act any meaner than the other demihumans. In fact the dockworker in Guldove, [[ForWantOfANail depending on which world you're in]], is either tired and overheated (leading the other workers to [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer mock him]] for [[AnimalStereotypes supposedly being lazy]]) or doing the jobs of several worn-out human workers [[HappinessInMinimumWage without complaining]], only [[BoisterousBruiser rightly proud of his strength]]. |
| 151 | * CaveBehindTheFalls: The only way to get the [[MacGuffinTitle Chrono Cross]] necessary to defeat the final boss correctly and get the [[GainaxEnding good ending]] is to go behind a waterfall, whose location on the world map [[GuideDangIt isn't labeled or even really mentioned clearly]]. |
| 152 | * CerebusRetcon: Survival isn't that simple, or else ''Chrono Trigger'' would have been the end of the story. Other futures fight to survive, other pasts strive to survive, and of course [[spoiler:Lavos and Schala]] are locked in a death struggle trying to survive. |
| 153 | * ChangingOfTheGuard: ''Chrono Cross'' leaves the main characters from ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' mostly out of the picture in favor of focusing on an entirely new cast not directly related to anything that happened in ''Chrono Trigger''. |
| 154 | * CharacterLevel: Notably averted, or at least ''heavily'' PlayedWith, and in a JRPG at that. ''Chrono Cross'' does not use a conventional leveling system, with the party instead sharing a single star rank that goes up by one after defeating most bosses. Each time this star rank increases, ''every'' party member effectively "levels up" at once, gaining increases to their stats and expanding their Element Grids. Characters present in your active party will also receive smaller boosts to their stats for the next handful of battles after a star rank increase, but the strictly-finite quantity of star rank increase opportunities in the game (only enough to get your star rank to 48) means that you quite literally ''cannot'' level grind in Chrono Cross. You can grind for money, items, and elements, but your party's "level" will be locked into a very tight range, if not a single specific number, based purely on your current story progression. See also AntiGrinding above. |
| 155 | * CharacterMagneticTeam: The game has 45 characters total, the player starts out in control of one character but has a veritable army by the time they face the BigBad. |
| 156 | * CharacterPortrait: The game has portraits in text boxes and menus. |
| 157 | * ChefOfIron: Orcha, cursed to also become an EvilChef sometimes. |
| 158 | * TheChessmaster: ''Quite'' a few, but [[spoiler:Belthasar]] probably takes the cake, a rare example of the Chessmaster actually being a good guy. [[spoiler:Belthasar]] manipulated 10,000 years of history across multiple parallel dimensions to make sure the protagonist would acquire the (eponymous) ultimate item needed to completely destroy the BigBad ''and'' [[spoiler:save Schala]]. |
| 159 | * ChestBurster: One of Guile's special attacks is to teleport his wand into the enemy's stomach and then cause it to fly out. |
| 160 | * ChildhoodFriendRomance: Serge's relationship with fellow-villager Leena at the beginning of the game qualifies, as it's a rather small village and they both grew up there. |
| 161 | * ChildSoldiers: Downplayed by Marcy, one of the four Acadia Dragoon Devas, a nine-year-old LittleMissBadass and arguably the game's WakeUpCallBoss. She's definitely spoiled and prone to throwing tantrums, but she doesn't have any of the serious psychological problems that ''actual'' child soldiers have. |
| 162 | * ChokepointGeography: Fossil Valley is the only road to Termina until you acquire a boat, Fort Dragonia can only be reached by passing through Mount Pyre, Chronopolis/The Dead Sea is encircled by jagged rocks, and Gaia's Navel sits atop impassable cliffs, making it inaccessible until the party can ''fly'' to it. |
| 163 | * CirclingMonologue: Harle memorably does this by teleporting onto columns around Serge and walking vertically up and down them [[spoiler: as she tries to make him doubt his identity after Lynx switches bodies with him.]] |
| 164 | * CleanDubName: Many a high school teacher of Japanese will tell you that in the classroom there will be no intentional emphasizing of the ''-shit-'' romaji spelling combinations occasionally found in Japanese words and names. But teenagers are immature, and will do it anyway [[RuleOfFunny just for lulz]]. So naturally, Ishito was renamed [[DubNameChange Norris]]. |
| 165 | * CleavageWindow: Orlha has mini dress with large diamond cutout in the center that shows off cleavage and some stomach. |
| 166 | %%* ClimaxBoss: [[spoiler:Miguel, FATE, and the Dragon God]]. |
| 167 | * ColdFlames: Played with by the Frozen Flame, whose name implies this, despite it having nothing to do with it's true nature. Given how much mystery surrounds the thing InUniverse, it's definitely deliberate. |
| 168 | * CollapsingLair: [[spoiler:FATE]] immediately senses Miguel's defeat and reaches out from across dimensions, destroying the Dead Sea to prevent the heroes from snooping around in there. |
| 169 | * ColorCodedElements: Inverted; the colors ''are'' the elements. Red incorporates [[PlayingWithFire fire]] and [[MagmaMan magma]], blue is [[MakingASplash water]] and [[AnIcePerson ice]], yellow is [[DishingOutDirt earth]] and [[ShockAndAwe lightning]], green is [[BlowYouAway wind]] and [[GreenThumb plants]], black is [[CastingAShadow darkness]] and [[GravityMaster gravity]], and white is [[LightEmUp light]] and [[DeathFromAbove meteors]]. |
| 170 | * CombatExclusiveHealing: The game doesn't let you use healing elements outside of battle, but if there are unused ones remaining at the end of a battle, they are used automatically. You are, however, allowed to use expendables any time you want. |
| 171 | * CombinationAttack: There are many, although they are actually [[GuideDangIt much rarer in practice]] than in ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'', mainly due to the game's number of characters. |
| 172 | * TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: |
| 173 | ** The success percentages given for your physical attacks are quite difficult to believe; prepare to miss frequently if the percentage is anywhere below 85%. This is especially blatant in the monster arena MiniGame. |
| 174 | ** The combat mechanics that players must work with [[MyRulesAreNotYourRules do not apply to enemies]]. There are two main ways this plays out. One, players have to successfully hit enemies with physical attacks before they can use elements, while enemies can cast elements whenever they want. And two, players can only use a given element once per battle, while enemies can use anything they have access to as many times as they want -- even Techs, which (unlike regular elements) are unique one-off abilities by definition. This has the effect that, the longer the fight goes on, the less you have to work with as your element grid runs out... but not so for your opponent. |
| 175 | * ContemplateOurNavels: Given that much of the game revolves around the nature of time, reality, and existence, it was sort of inevitable. |
| 176 | * ContinuityRebooter: Serge. When young, he nearly drowned; this event is what split Home World and Another World. In Home, he was saved and survived; in Another, he wasn't, and didn't. A big part of the game's plot is finding out ''why'' he's so important to both universes that his death (or survival) causes such a dissonance between them. |
| 177 | * ContinuitySnarl: [[spoiler:The game makes a point to state that humans are an unnatural evolution due to primitive apes coming in contact with Lavos. However, the [[VideoGame/ChronoTrigger previous game]] showed humans were already fully evolved (if still using a somewhat primitive language and had little understanding of technology) before Lavos even arrived on the planet.]] |
| 178 | * CosmeticAward: One of the things you can find is a collection of new skins for dialog boxes. |
| 179 | * CreditsMontage: In black and white, with extra clips at the end. |
| 180 | * CreepyChild: |
| 181 | ** The "Ghost Children" can come across this way, first appearing as silent phantoms guiding Serge and co. through the Dead Sea, only to berate him for [[spoiler:negating all their hard work to save the world in ''Chrono Trigger'']], but, true to their real identities, they're definitely not ill-intentioned. |
| 182 | ** The doll-like Tragediennes are found lurking around the Tower of Geddon's theater area. They wear tattered petticoats and behave as if they're part of some macabre BeautyContest. |
| 183 | --->"My greatest accomplishment is the '''[[CallingYourAttacks BLACK HOLE]]!'''" |
| 184 | * CriticalHit: The game tied this to the strength of attacks. From weak to fierce, the latter has higher chances of doing a critical hit, but has lower accuracy unless you chain it from other attacks. Also, while Serge's InfinityPlusOneSword doesn't have the highest attack rating, its chances of doing a critical hit the ceiling to the point that even weak attacks do criticals. |
| 185 | * CrucifiedHeroShot: Lynx levitates Serge in this position just before sending him [[spoiler:in his former feline body]] into the Dimensional Vortex. |
| 186 | * CrueltyIsTheOnlyOption: The requirements for Razzly's Lv. 7 Tech is to pick all of the ''bad'' outcomes in the Hydra Marshes -- bump off the Hydra, allow the Hydra's offspring to be stillborn, and let [[spoiler:Razzly's sister die]]. |
| 187 | * CrystalPrison: [[spoiler:Kid/Schala]] shows up in one of these, attached to the backside of [[spoiler:the Time Devourer]]. Rescuing her without killing her in the process is how you unlock the GoldenEnding. |
| 188 | * CultSoundtrack: The soundtrack is regarded by almost all who hear it as one of the best in the history of video games. |
| 189 | * CulturedBadass: Guile is an example of this. He is a gentleman who drinks and toasts frequently. Despite his refined appearance and cultured speech, in battles, he can ''teleport his wand into enemy's innards before pulling it back out'' and ''turn his wand into swords to slice his enemy''. |
| 190 | * CuteBruiser: Leah, a six-year-old cavegirl, has strength and HP values among the highest in the game. |
| 191 | * TheDandy: Pierre, an UpperClassTwit (or at least someone ''pretending'' to be one) and self-proclaimed Hero who speaks GratuitousFrench and has a lofty opinion of himself. He's also a MilesGloriosus, constantly talking up his bravery and skill despite being [[TheLoad a poor performer in battle]]... unless you find all three Hero's Items scattered around the game and equip them on him. Then he becomes... [[PowerupLetdown above average but not fantastic]]. |
| 192 | * DarkerAndEdgier: Compared to ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' this game has a lot more unpleasantness regarding time travel and FantasticRacism (though ''VisualNovel/RadicalDreamers'' started the trend). |
| 193 | * DarkestHour: After the visit to [[DiscOneFinalDungeon Fort Dragonia]]. [[spoiler:Lynx pulls a GrandTheftMe on Serge, turns his party against him, stabs Kid when she figures out what's going on, and throws Serge into a dimensional void. Even after Harle helps Serge out, he's still stuck in Home World, separated from all his friends, stuck in Lynx's body, while Dark Serge is doing god-knows-what in Another World.]] |
| 194 | * DarkReprise: Both versions of Arni Village use the same melody. However, Another Arni's melancholy theme reflects the sadness of Serge's absence. |
| 195 | * DeadAlternateCounterpart: At the beginning, Serge finds himself transported to an alternate universe where he died ten years ago. |
| 196 | * DeathDealer: Some characters can use 'shot', which seem to be some sort of thrown bullet. They can also use the various 'Deck' weapons, which apparently fling cards at people. |
| 197 | * {{Deconstruction}}: Of time travel, specifically as it was presented in ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger''. ''Chrono Cross'' asks the question "[[FridgeHorror what happens to the people of a changed timeline?]]", and rips right into it. |
| 198 | * DefeatMeansFriendship: How Grobyc joins your party. |
| 199 | * DemBones: One of the early characters you can meet is the disembodied skull of a clown looking for the rest of his body parts. Naturally, he asks you to help him find them all. He appears to have been getting around until then by hopping with his jaw. Later, you get to meet his family, who has been wondering what happened to him. |
| 200 | * {{Demihuman}}: A more literal example, the demihumans in this game are actual {{Half Human Hybrid}}s. TheFairFolk are considered a subspecies. |
| 201 | * DeusEstMachina: Fate, which acts as the goddess of the El Nido archipelago as part of its role as [[spoiler:the main computer of Chronopolis. It guides El Nido's history in order to avoid a time paradox where it's never created due to its accidentally being sent to the distant past during the TimeCrash]]. |
| 202 | * DevelopersForesight: |
| 203 | ** Each playthrough yields 48 boss battle stars, whether you decide to recruit Kid at certain points or not, or even if you manage to skip the Ice Breath quest entirely. |
| 204 | ** During the first battle with Lynx [[spoiler:after Serge has a GrandTheftMe pulled on him and is forced to switch bodies with Lynx]], the ensuing fight is supposed to be a HopelessBossFight, ending with the player's party being knocked out. Should a player manage to win this fight, an additional in-battle cutscene will play in which Kid becomes an UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom and knocks them out anyways. |
| 205 | ** If you recruit Leena instead of Kid, once you arrive in Termina, Kid has some extra dialog [[spoiler:about being bold about taking Leena to the inn first thing]] if you stay at the inn before talking to her. |
| 206 | * DevelopersRoom: The "best" ending, achieved by beating the game as soon as possible (before recruiting anyone into your party besides Serge) is one of these, with enough developer-avatars to fill a dozen rooms. |
| 207 | * DiagonalCut: This is Fargo's Level 7 Tech, "Invincible". Used merely as a visual effect, though, since it just deals physical damage instead of instant-kills. |
| 208 | * DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: You ''can'' choose to simply punch out the Time Devourer, but he gets better. Which is bad. The ''right'' way to defeat him is... a little more complicated. |
| 209 | * DimensionalTraveler: It's unclear if Kid is one, though she possesses the Astral Amulet and is seen wandering around [[spoiler:Tokyo circa 1999]] in the credits. Serge and co. can jump between worlds once they obtain the item. |
| 210 | * DiscOneFinalBoss: Three times, in conjunction with the three Disc One Final Dungeons mentioned below: [[spoiler:Lynx]], [[spoiler:FATE]], and [[spoiler:The Dragon God]]. The game is ''clearly'' building you to take on Lynx/[[spoiler:Dark Serge]] and Fate itself, whatever that may be. [[spoiler:Turns out it's the computer that's keeping everyone from being killed by the dragons. And it wasn't evil so much as trying to resolve its programming. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Er...]] Well anyway, then you take on the dragons who are planning to destroy the Earth, only they/it aren't/isn't the final boss ''either'' because the Time Devourer ate it long ago.]] |
| 211 | * DiscOneFinalDungeon: The game does it twice, with Fort Dragonia and Chronopolis. Fort Dragonia is particularly notable because it's the site of the dream you had at the beginning of the game, which itself felt like StormingTheCastle. The Dead Sea is also an example. |
| 212 | * DiscOneNuke: Several sidequests, minigames, and hard-to-find items count. |
| 213 | ** The Profiteer's Purse, obtained by checking the stairs in the mansion in Another Termina, is this in two ways. You can either disassemble it to its base components (letting you forge far better equipment than would otherwise be possible) or give it to Serge for a 33% bonus to all money gained from battles (which adds up very quickly). |
| 214 | ** A bit later on, ''in'' Viper Manor, a minigame involving the care and feeding of dragons nets you a piece of iron equipment if you get the best result... and you can just keep trying until you win. |
| 215 | ** The same game has the Plasma Pistol, wielded by Norris or Starky. It has the power of a late-game weapon, but can be obtained far earlier than other weapons of its power (right after recruiting Starky, in fact). |
| 216 | ** You can easily acquire Serge's [[InfinityMinusOneSword Mastermune]] ''way'' sooner than you're supposed to be able to by exploiting a bit of ArtificialStupidity on the part of the boss you have to fight to get it. |
| 217 | * DisproportionateRetribution: The dwarfs believe their home in the swamp is doomed because of the Hydra's demise. How do they fix it? ''Genocide against the Fairies''. And then they have the gall to blame ''you'' for making them slaughter innocent pacifists! |
| 218 | * DistressBall: Kid catches it a few times, although her clearly-established impulsive nature makes it slightly easier to swallow. |
| 219 | * DivergingEvolutionaryPhases: Pip has up to five possible forms based on the Elements that he uses. Primarily using "dark" Elements (Red, Yellow or Black) makes him evolve into a devil, and then archdevil form; primarily using "light" Elements (Green, Blue or White) makes him evolve into an angel, and then archangel form; while switching his Elemental affinity after the first evolution allows Pip to access his Holy Beast form. |
| 220 | * DoesNotKnowHowToSayThanks: PlayedForLaughs with Starky, [[TheGreys an alien.]] When attempting to express his gratitude, he uses the phrase "You're welcome." The person he is speaking to complements his attempted courtesy, and gives him the correct phrase to use instead. A text box then pops up and says "Starky learned 'Thank You,'" as though it was an actual in-game ability. |
| 221 | * ADogNamedDog: The game gives us a kid named Kid. Although it's more of a nickname, not her actual name. |
| 222 | * DominoMask: Guile wears a golden one. The reason why he wears it is unknown, but when he takes it off, he shocks his friend so much that it shortens her lifespan. |
| 223 | * DontThinkFeel: The advice given to the sailor guy played by Nikki in his concert/pretentious YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe skit, in order to play the song of Marbule. |
| 224 | * DoomedHometown: |
| 225 | ** Lynx burnt down the orphanage that Kid lived in as a child, providing her motivation to both steal the Frozen Flame from him and kill him. |
| 226 | ** Serge suffers from this in a both less and more extreme sense. His hometown of Arni Village is still around, but [[YouCantGoHomeAgain he can't go back]] because he's TrappedInAnotherWorld. Even if he opted to stay in Arni in this alternate universe, the people of Another World don't know him because he died as a child years ago. By the time he's able to return to his Home World, he has new motivations to continue the adventure. |
| 227 | * {{Doppelmerger}}: To get the eponymous VillainBeatingArtifact, you have to combine [[PowerCrystal the Dragon's Tear]] with a duplicate from the AlternateUniverse you keep jumping to. |
| 228 | * DoubleAgent: After exploring both Home and Another World, it soon becomes clear that Lynx was one of these--in Another, he was supposedly aiding General Viper and the Acacia Dragoons against the armies of Porre, preventing them from invading and occupying, but in Home he led Viper and the Devas to their doom in the Dead Sea, thus allowing Porre to occupy Termina and destroy Viper Manor. All of this was just a smokescreen so he could get hold of the Frozen Flame and, later, Serge. |
| 229 | * DoubleWeapon: Serge's dual-bladed "swallow" weapon. |
| 230 | * DownerEnding: The [[MultipleEndings Dragon God ending]] is stunningly bleak--it implies that the dragon god, in alliance with the demi-humans and dwarves, killed all the humans on El Nido, Serge and friends included. The game ends showing Harle walk through Serge's hometown, being looted and occupied by the non-humans, as she stops at the grave his alternate-self had been buried at. She lays flowers at his grave and says farewell. Cue credits. |
| 231 | * DownTheDrain: The sewers under Viper Manor. Despite a somewhat annoying quantity of enemy encounters (which are usually difficult to avoid due to the cramped passageways), the area itself is mercifully short. |
| 232 | * DraconicHumanoid: The Fire Dragon is this for the first fight against him. Later on, he fights the party once more[[spoiler:, only this time, after dealing enough damage to him, he transforms into his [[OneWingedAngel true form]] of a hulking red dragon, if you didn't come prepared then his '''very deadly''' Firebreath attack which he activates more than once during the fight which will burn your party to ashes, '''especially bad news''' for Blue Innate characters. Better bring a few Diminish elements to play it safe, or else...]] |
| 233 | * DragonRider: The Acacian Dragoons. |
| 234 | * DreamingOfThingsToCome: The [[DreamIntro opening sequence]] is Serge, Kid, and a third person infiltrating Fort Dragonia. He wakes up after reaching a plot-significant door. He doesn't go there until about halfway through Disc 1. |
| 235 | * DreamMelody: This is how you get the [[MultipleEndings Good Ending]]. [[spoiler: To free [[UrbanLegendOfZelda Schala]] from Lavos, you must use the Elements in the correct order. Each color of the Elements is keyed to a note, and ]] the tune is played in many places in-game but especially in the [[spoiler: fake]] VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon. |
| 236 | * DressingAsTheEnemy: At Viper Manor. |
| 237 | * DrivenToVillainy: The dwarves have learned a thing or two from human savagery: Always kick around a ''weaker'' race! Like fairies, for instance. |
| 238 | * DualBoss: Solt and Peppor, several times. |
| 239 | * DualWielding: Glenn uses the legendary sword [[GratuitousGerman Einlanzer]] for his ultimate weapon... and can also retrieve its alternate-timeline counterpart and use them ''both at once''. |
| 240 | * DualWorldGameplay: One goes between parallel worlds although there was only one point at which you could travel between them, and you didn't receive the ability to do so until late in the game. Despite being parallel worlds, one side could affect the other e.g. cooling scorched ground on an island in one world allows plant life to grow in the other world. |
| 241 | * DubInducedPlotHole: The penultimate boss, the Dragon God, is labelled "Time Devourer" in the North American release. Given that the Time Devourer is the FinalBoss and the relationship between the two isn't exactly obvious, this just makes the [[MindScrew already confusing story]] even moreso. |
| 242 | * DubNameChange: Many of the characters had their names changed, most due to space issues. |
| 243 | ** One of the bosses, the Lunar Dragon, got mistranslated to Time Devourer (despite the Time Devourer actually being the ''next'' boss) |
| 244 | * DungFu: Poshul; one of her attacks which consists of kicking up a storm of "doggy doo." |
| 245 | * EarlyBirdBoss: The fight against Lynx in Viper Manor is the first real test to see if the player has learned the combat system. Merely flailing around with attacks and randomly using elements with little strategy will often get you a trip to the title screen, especially if Lynx decides to heal up and prolong the fight even more. |
| 246 | * EarthWindJuxtaposition: The game has a variation. The Green Element includes wind (alongside [[GreenThumb nature]]), and is juxtaposed with the Yellow Element which includes earth (alongside [[ShockAndAwe electricity]]). |
| 247 | * EasingIntoTheAdventure: Serge is [[GoodMorningCrono woken up by his mother]] and told he missed meeting his girlfriend as they'd planned, so said girlfriend has him to adventuring in the NoobCave by himself. It's only afterwards that Serge accidentally gets pulled into the beginning of the real adventure... |
| 248 | * EasyLevelsHardBosses: Regular enemies will go down pretty easily, but bosses will completely destroy you. Most of this sudden difficulty in bosses comes from the fact that elements can only be used once per battle [[note]]except for a handful of special "consumable" elements that can be used up to five times -- or if you've gotten the [[LastDiscMagic Chrono Cross]][[/note]], which means in long fights you'll tend to run out of both firepower and healing (enemies, of course, [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard don't suffer from this limitation]]). It doesn't help that you barely gain any stat improvements from grinding, gaining most of your stat boosts from killing bosses, meaning the only way to really prepare more is to either get better gear or get a better Element Grid set up. This is somewhat mitigated by the fact that you can flee with 100% success from ''any'' battle, bosses included -- but that just keeps you from getting a GameOver, rather than helping you actually beat the boss. |
| 249 | * EdibleBludgeon: Janice, a [[DemiHuman half-rabbit]] monster trainer that attacks enemies with a giant carrot. |
| 250 | * EdibleThemeNaming: Solt and Peppor, the Shaker Brothers, who are at one time joined by Ketchop. |
| 251 | * EggMacGuffin: One of the first key items Serge can obtain in Another World is a Draconian Egg. Near the endgame, he can take it to an incubator in Fort Dragonia, where it will hatch into Draggy, a [[LethalJokeCharacter rainbow-colored infant dragon]]. |
| 252 | * EldritchAbomination: The Time Devourer. |
| 253 | * EldritchLocation: The Darkness Beyond Time, and probably the [[TimeCrash Dead Sea]] as well. |
| 254 | * ElementalCrafting: The weapon forging system ranks. |
| 255 | * ElementalRockPaperScissors: The elemental colors are white (light/meteors) versus black (shadow/gravity), red (fire/magma) versus blue (water/ice), and green (wind/plant) versus yellow (earth/lightning). All are strong against their opposite when attacking. What this usually meant was that rather than always using characters whose affinity was the opposite of the enemy's, it was usually better to have one of the opposite, for damaging, and one of the same, who could easily survive if an enemy or boss suddenly let loose with a devastating attack. |
| 256 | * EleventhHourSuperpower: The eponymous "Chrono Cross" is actually an optional Element you can only get near the end of the game. Although it refills your used Elements under certain circumstances, its main use is to get the good ending when used against the final boss, which also completely bypasses the final boss fight. It's also used in a special spot to combine party members from other saves. |
| 257 | * EliteFour: The Four Devas of the Acacia Dragoons, complete with use of the ''shitennō'' (四天王) name for their group in the original Japanese version. Oddly, we only actually ''see'' three of these Four Devas in the game; the identity of the supposed fourth Deva is unknown. |
| 258 | * ElmuhFuddSyndwome: Pip's speech quirk is along these lines. |
| 259 | * TheEmpire: Inverted. The Porrean occupiers, as personified by Norris, are reasonable enough folks when you actually sit down and talk sense to them. (After all, the Dragoons are a military junta in their own right.) |
| 260 | * EnemyScan: The green elemental spell Infoscope, which allowed the user to see all enemies' HP. |
| 261 | * EnigmaticMinion: Harle, for [[MindScrew confusing]] and spoilery reasons. WordOfGod even says [[spoiler:that there's actually something of a connection between her and Kid, which players noted when comparing the similar build, reactions to Serge and almost identical facial features.]] |
| 262 | * EnterSolutionHere: |
| 263 | ** Averted; fairly early in the game, you come across a multiple-choice question that appears to be one of these. However, as you're puzzling over it, you quickly discover that the correct answer is [[spoiler: saying nothing at all.]] |
| 264 | ** Also played straight in the early game; a ridiculously large and ornate combination lock in a fortress is too inconvenient to brute force, having 100 combinations, but you can just head down to the barracks and learn it from a note a forgetful soldier wrote for himself. |
| 265 | * EquipmentBasedProgression: Since random battles won't help you advance much (see AntiGrinding, above) you primarily get stronger by beating bosses, upgrading your equipment, or by buying/finding better elements. |
| 266 | * EveryoneHasASpecialMove: While elements are generally interchangeable, each character has three "techs" that are unique to that character, and can't be unequipped, which generally reflect the character's personality. For example, the GirlNextDoor Leena has Maiden Hand, a slap, while the {{Pirate}} Fargo has Pillage, a VideoGameStealing move. |
| 267 | * EverythingsBetterWithRainbows: You see what a weapon made from rainbow shell should actually look like. |
| 268 | * EvilChef: The game has a literal Hell's Cook as one of the many characters you can get to join you. You fight his Super Powered Evil Side before his HeelFaceTurn. |
| 269 | * EvilIsNotAToy: The Frozen Flame has an unerring knack for completely hosing anyone foolish enough to meddle with it. For this reason, Balthazar ensures that it is being kept under lock and key in Chronopolis, with only [[spoiler:Serge]] being granted access. [[spoiler:FATE]] dispatches Lynx to find a back door around this problem, and events get off and running. |
| 270 | * EvilIsVisceral: The Isle of the Damned is the burial place of Garai, one of the Dragoon Devas who was slain by a possessed [[spoiler:Radius]]. The island soon became contaminated with Garai's vengeful energies, reddening the landscape with blood and animal skeletons and turning the waters black. |
| 271 | * EvilTowerOfOminousness: |
| 272 | ** It's only the most chilling part of either Chrono series where the party first enters the Dead Sea and sees the creepy-as-hell Tower of Geddon looming on the frozen waves. |
| 273 | ** Earlier in the game, Fort Dragonia, site of very dramatic events that change the protagonist's life forever. |
| 274 | ** Also, [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Terra Tower]], built by the descendants of the Reptites in an alternate future. |
| 275 | * EvilVersusEvil: Chronopolis vs. the Terra Tower, in the game's distant past. The former was treated as an 'infection' within time itself, with the Dragonians being brought in to act as antibodies. |
| 276 | * EvilWeapon: The Masamune. [[VideoGame/ChronoTrigger Originally]] an EmpathicWeapon, it was once stolen from the kingdom of Guardia and used for evil, turning the once holy sword into a demonic, warped blade that can corrupt or take over the mind of anyone who wields it. By the time of the game's events, it was so corrupted that Lynx was able to use its evil aura to block the entrance to the Dead Sea. Removed from there by the sacred sword Einlanzer, and later cleansed of all evil influence, it was restored to its shining glory and transformed into the Mastermune. |
| 277 | * ExpansionPackWorld: The game takes place mostly on the El Nido Archipelago, a group of small islands off the coast of Porre, in the same world as ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger''. The archipelago is not visible in ''Chrono Trigger'' (although its OverworldNotToScale is amazingly simplified, with all of four towns visible on the ''planet''). To be fair, the archipelago didn't actually exist in ''Chrono Trigger'', as [[spoiler:a future civilization that found itself in the distant past as a side-effect of the events of the first game {{terraform}}ed the islands]]. |
| 278 | * ExperiencePoints: Characters gain levels only when defeating a boss, although the next 5-10 battles after a boss battle will generally give them a slight stat increase as well. |
| 279 | * ExpositionBreak: The game had a particularly infuriating one; before you fight [[ThatOneBoss Miguel]], you have to sit through a 5+ minute long [[ContemplateOurNavels navel-gazing]] monologue about how he got here, what his past is, and how he's connected to Serge. It's interesting the first time you read it, but scrolling through it gets old fast. Thankfully, since you can always escape from battle with a 100% success rate, you can always flee from Miguel if you're about to die and not have to read through it again (or even run from the boss battle and ''then'' save, ''after'' the exposition). |
| 280 | * ExtranormalInstitute: Chronopolis fits the bill. |
| 281 | [[/folder]] |
| 282 | |
| 283 | [[folder:F - J]] |
| 284 | * TheFaceOfTheSun: [=SunOfAGun=] is a sun-shaped robot with three faces - one happy, one angry and one sad. |
| 285 | * FairyInABottle: You rescue the fairy Razzly from a tiny bird cage. Although the fairies don't like or trust humans, she will join your party in gratitude for saving her. |
| 286 | * FakeActionPrologue: The game begins with the "dream" variant, though it's a [[DreamingOfThingsToCome dream of a possible future]]. |
| 287 | * FakeUltimateHero: Pierre is an image-conscious weakling who insists that he's really ''the'' ultimate hero. While nobody takes him seriously on this claim, he ''is'' the only person who can equip the Hero's Blade, the Hero's Shield, or the Hero Medal, which hints that there's a lot more to him than meets the eye. |
| 288 | * FamilyUnfriendlyViolence: [[spoiler:Kid's stabbing scene]] is probably enough to give most younger players nightmares. Even the writer expressed concern that the scene may have been too intense. |
| 289 | * {{Fanservice}}: Serge's naked scene. It even has a good shot of his bare butt. Kid, [[AmazonianBeauty Orlha]], and Janice (a [[LittleBitBeastly bunny-girl]]) also probably count in general. [[WalkingShirtlessScene Zoah]] is a male example. |
| 290 | * FantasticRacism: El Nido's human and {{demihuman}} populations don't always get along. In some places, like Termina, they live together generally peacefully (though demi-humans are notably absent among the more affluent citizens), while other places, like the demi-human village of Marbule, are rather less welcoming. |
| 291 | * FastForwardMechanic: The game gives the player the ability to speed up and slow down the gameplay once they've beaten the game at least once. The remaster makes this function available from the start as one of its AntiFrustrationFeatures. |
| 292 | * FatalFamilyPhoto: A researcher in Chronopolis' lobby area promises his daughter that he'll be home shortly. Needless to say, he keeps missing his flight. |
| 293 | * FatAndSkinny: Solt and Peppor. |
| 294 | * FauxFlame: The game takes this trope to literal proportions with the Frozen Flame. |
| 295 | * FeetFirstIntroduction: Outside the dream sequence intro, this is how Kid is introduced. |
| 296 | * {{Fembot}}: FATE adopts such a form for your boss fight with her. |
| 297 | * FetalPositionRebirth: [[spoiler:Serge]]'s rebirth in human form, complete with floating in a giant bubble of unexplained fluid as he rapidly grows from infancy to his actual age before waking up. |
| 298 | * FieldPowerEffect: The colors in the field. |
| 299 | * FightingAShadow: Happens several times. |
| 300 | ** Early in the game, Lynx deliberately pulls this on the party. See ActuallyADoombot, above. |
| 301 | ** An interesting variation occurs where the Dragon God is just the part of a bigger entity that exists outside time. When you kill the physical manifestation, it gloats that all it has to do is reform with its main self; however it's then revealed that [[spoiler:its main self was killed by the Time Devourer long ago]]. |
| 302 | ** This is also the reason you can't just destroy the Time Devourer. Since it exists outside of time, simply beating it to death like any other monster isn't enough to put it down for good. |
| 303 | * FightingYourFriend: |
| 304 | ** Serge/[[spoiler:Lynx]] versus Kid at the top of Fort Dragonia. |
| 305 | ** The boss battles against [[spoiler:Miguel]] and Dario. |
| 306 | * FinalBossNewDimension: The final boss, complements the concept by luring you into the darkness ''beyond'' time, where timelines discarded or destroyed by temporal paradoxes end up. To put it in another way, the final boss takes you outside of the boundaries of time, space, and dimension. |
| 307 | * FindTheCure: Early on, Kid is poisoned by Hydra venom, which means Serge must hunt down the antidote ([[StoryBranching or not]]). |
| 308 | * FireIceLightning: Each gains a partner element style and is put on a six-point chart. Fire (and magma) as 'Red' against ice (and water) as 'Blue'; oddly, lightning gets partnered with earth as 'Yellow' against grass and wind as 'Green', breaking the lightning/air pairing. |
| 309 | * FishingForSole: One of the fisherman Korcha's special attacks has him reel in a monster that hits the enemies. Sometimes, however, he'll reel in a boot that does nothing. |
| 310 | * FlatCharacter: One criticism of the game is that it sacrificed quality for quantity in regards to the playable characters. Many of the characters sound interesting -- a luchador-turned-priest, a surfer bum doctor, a chef with an evil alternate personality -- but lack much in the way of character development or plot significance. |
| 311 | * FlyingFace: Skelly, one of the many optional party members, starts out as this. He's an animate skull, and you have to find and assemble the rest of his skeleton to recruit him. |
| 312 | * FlyingSaucer: And it's plot-relevant, to boot. |
| 313 | * ForbiddenZone: The Dead Sea. |
| 314 | * ForcedTransformation: Sneff turns Serge and co. into cats during a magic trick. |
| 315 | * ForDoomTheBellTolls: The background "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwSJRLJpRPc music]]" of [[VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Terra Tower]] consists of nothing but deep bells, somber strings, and unintelligible vocals, all the better to convey the utterly ''alien'' atmosphere of a fortress displaced across time and dimensions... and populated by ghosts and bizarre constructs. |
| 316 | * {{Foreshadowing}}: The opening has the camera zoom in to Kid's pupil, transitioning to [[spoiler:the burning orphanage FMV.]] |
| 317 | * ForScience: The facility chief of Chronopolis can be overheard worrying about the repercussions of the project failing (or worse, succeeding) but he nonetheless feels it is imperative to push on. |
| 318 | * FortuneTeller: You can visit a fortune teller in Termina, who will have a unique fortune for all forty-five of your possible party members... with the exception of Kid and Harle, who get the same reading. |
| 319 | * ForWantOfANail: The difference between Home and Another worlds are all related to Serge's presence or absence, respectively. Not all the changes are a ''direct'' result of it, but they're all wrapped up in the events leading to him being around (or not). |
| 320 | * FramingDevice: Kid's diary in [[AlternateContinuity this version of the tale]]. |
| 321 | * FreakyFashionMildMind: Nikki is a {{Bishonen}} TheRockStar who wears makeup, lots of leather and an outfit that bares his midriff, but he's also a very kind and thoughtful person. |
| 322 | * FreakyFridayFlip: [[spoiler:About a third of the way into the game, Lynx performs a body swap with Serge. This notably lasts for a long period of time, about the entire second third of the game. During this time, none of your previous allies will work with you, either because they believe that you are actually Lynx or because they just find it too bizarre to work with you while you are in Lynx's body, forcing you to recruit an entirely new set of party members.]] |
| 323 | * FryingPanOfDoom: Several characters use various cooking utensils as weapons, the strongest of which is a frying pan made of [[{{Unobtainium}} Rainbow Shell]]. Combined with a battle system that utilizes stringing weak-fierce blows together, this leads to, among things, an unassuming village girl unleashing a rapid-fire, martial arts SpamAttack with her trusty frying pan. |
| 324 | * FunetikAksent: Practically every character, due to disc space limitations -- rather than write out every character's dialogue for every possible situation, the programmers wrote algorithms for different verbal tics. An almost-tidy way to make different characters speak differently. |
| 325 | * FusionDance: The Time Devourer is a fusion of [[spoiler:Schala and Lavos]]. And [[spoiler:the Dragon Gods fuse once FATE falls]]. |
| 326 | * FuturisticSuperhighway: A crumbling interstate in the Dead Sea. This is where Lynx's party fights the Highwayman. |
| 327 | * GaiasLament: ''Chrono Cross'' had fairly clear themes. The relationship between nature and technology is a big one, and it appears everywhere: being a fisher in a village which is dependent on hunting and gathering, finding the antidote to Kid's poison in a swamp which is destined to be ecologically damanged by human behavior, having tribal members and natives pushed out by colonizers who are less-interested in respecting the balance with nature. The Dragons themselves as opposed to Chronopolis; nature versus Prometheus. These settings test the boundaries between nature (Dragons) and technology (FATE), with humans residing in the middle. If survival (another big theme returned to time and again) is important, then humans need to figure out how to survive without destroying the planet, ideally by negotiating with it rather than seizing land from the Dwarves or demi-humans. |
| 328 | * GaiasVengeance: The Dragons. After the defeat of FATE, when Kid attempts to claim the Frozen Flame for herself, it is revealed that [[spoiler:the Dragons were using Serge all along, and]] they exist in order to bring about the planet's vengeance for being colonized and destroyed by humanity, which they deem to be the "spawn of Lavos" thanks to being affected by its power (and further evolved to gain greater access to magic). It is eventually revealed by Belthasar that to counter FATE and Chronopolis, a city of Reptites from a future AlternateTimeline where they were not destroyed by Lavos (Dinopolis) was also brought back in time to become [[spoiler:Terra Tower/Sky Dragon Isle]], and the Dragons [[spoiler:were organic computers keyed to the different Elements which]] ran the city in the same way FATE ran Chronopolis; once their war with FATE ended with her using the Flame to hold them back and trapped in El Nido (and, after the timestream split, in the two different dimensions), they simply waited until the Arbiter appeared, [[spoiler:so they could manipulate him into destroying FATE and freeing them to continue their vengeance]]. |
| 329 | * GaidenGame: The game is somewhat of a Gaiden Game for ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'', being set 20 years after the "present" time in the latter and retaining only a handful of characters, all of whom show up in three scenes or fewer. What really makes it gaiden, though, is the fact that, in the end, the entire point of the story is to resolve a hanging plot thread from its predecessor (see UrbanLegendOfZelda). |
| 330 | * GainaxEnding: No surprise here, as Masato Kato worked for Gainax previously. The game's final {{Cutscene}} shows [[spoiler:the Time Devourer is defeated, you merged the worlds together again, and... now there's a girl running around Tokyo]]? Yea, good luck figuring ''that'' out. One of the developers has since explained that this ending is intended to make players "think about the reality of their own world", and that part of the ending is to make the player think that there might be a Kid in their world. Presumably a reference to the game's themes of alternate dimensions and such. |
| 331 | * GambitRoulette: Once you get down to the core of everything: [[spoiler: Belthasar discovered Schala was alive, albeit absorbed by Lavos in an alternate dimension. To both destroy the resulting EldritchAbomination and save the princess of his old kingdom, he drew a plan that involved alternate dimensions, the will of the planet, Schala's actions, and thousands of years of history in order to produce Serge and the Chrono Cross. ''It worked!'' Being a big whig in a futuristic time research facility helps him make it happen.]] |
| 332 | * GambitPileup: There's at least half a dozen plans working at cross purposes throughout the game. In rough order of UnwittingPawn-ness: the Acacian Dragoons and Porre are trying to {{OutGambit|ted}} one another via Lynx, who is actually trying to [[spoiler:break the restrictions on FATE]], while the dragon gods manipulate [[spoiler:Serge, so that he'll free them by killing FATE]], ''all'' of which was part of a plan by [[spoiler:the Prophet of Time]] meant to result in the final defeat of the Time Devourer. |
| 333 | ** How the plot plays out and how it relates to Chrono Cross is explained in detail [[http://pastebin.com/JG2jhqSJ here]]. You may want to set some time aside. |
| 334 | * TheGambler: Sneff throws playing cards at his opponents, and two of his moves revolve around playing cards: Big Deal, in which he tosses an entire deck, and HP Shuffle, in which he shuffles the three numbers that make up his HP (091 might become 910, 901, 190, 109, 091 and 019). |
| 335 | * GameBreakingBug: Some versions contain a bug near the end of the first disc that causes the game to freeze...in the middle of a cutscene that introduces a really important plot point...right after an extremely difficult boss fight. |
| 336 | * GameFavoredGender / GenderRestrictedGear: Dresses which only females can wear, all of which give sizable bonuses to magic defense. |
| 337 | * GangplankGalleon: The SS Zelbess/SS Invincible (depending on which reality you were in). |
| 338 | * TheGeneralissimo: General Viper, who rules El Nido with his Acacia Dragoons. [[spoiler:He's actually a rare heroic example; he might be authoritarian, but he's a good ruler and was only after Serge because he was being manipulated by Lynx]]. |
| 339 | * GermanicEfficiency: The character Luccia is a brilliant, efficient, and morally ambiguous scientist with a very distinct German accent. |
| 340 | * GhostShip: Subverted then played straight. While sailing through dense fog, the party runs across a ship rumored to be a ghost ship, but turns out to be a pirate vessel using the legend to its advantage. The pirates are then attacked by an ''[[CryingWolf actual]]'' ghost ship. |
| 341 | * GiantWallOfWateryDoom: The Dead Sea was in the middle of getting pummeled by these when it froze. Also, one of these is seen heading right for Serge on Opassa Beach during his first crossover between dimensions. |
| 342 | * GirlOfMyDreams: The game starts with a dream sequence dungeon featuring the protagonist Serge, a random third party member, and most significantly his future significant other, Kid. |
| 343 | * GodGuise: |
| 344 | ** The inhabitants of El Nido seek guidance from the Goddess of Fate, going so far as to directly ask for advice from the aptly-named [[JustifiedSavePoint "Records of Fate"]]. Little do they suspect that they're actually communing with [[spoiler:a MasterComputer from 1400 years into the future, the artificial intelligence FATE]]. |
| 345 | ** The Dragon Gods serve as the patron saints of El Nido; Sky Dragon Isle is in fact a shrine to the head honcho dragon. They are later revealed to be an evolved species of [[spoiler:Reptite, Ayla's implacable foes from ''Chrono Trigger'']]. |
| 346 | * GoldenEnding: The game has two different endings depending on how you beat the final boss. The bad end simply treats you to a cutscene of the final boss escaping through a portal. If you jump through a few [[GuideDangIt very well hidden]] hoops, then you get the Golden Ending where the BigGood's objective is achieved and the final boss truly dies. (After getting the GoldenEnding, you can move on to the NewGamePlus and go after the 8+ other endings.) |
| 347 | * GoldfishPoopGang: Solt & Peppor are a combination of this and HeKnowsAboutTimedHits. |
| 348 | ** The last time you fight Solt & Peppor (which is optional), they actually do seem to get serious. Their Cross Slash attack can do enough damage to kill one of your party members, which you might not expect. They still aren't ''hard'', but they're not a free win either. |
| 349 | * GoodMorningCrono: A callback to its predecessor. As with ''Trigger'', you can find some startup cash by searching the protagonist's house. |
| 350 | * GoshDangItToHeck: The game plays the trope almost completely straight. They drop the ball with "bugger": Kid uses it liberally, possibly being unaware it is a swear word. |
| 351 | * GottaCatchThemAll: With 45 playable characters and the requirement of three playthroughs to get them, what do you expect? Skelly actually requires that you uncover each of his remains before he'll join. There's also the "Hero" equipment you need to outfit Pierre with before he'll be of any use. |
| 352 | ** A more straightforward example is the need to fight all six Dragon Gods and obtain their relics before you are allowed to enter the Sea of Eden. |
| 353 | * GottaKillEmAll: Fort Dragonia is full of elevators, so climbing the structure isn't the problem. Powering the elevators, however, becomes another matter entirely as each generator is guarded by a boss. |
| 354 | ** The Dragons act as examiners before your trip to Chronopolis, challenging Serge to see whether he is fit to confront their enemy, [[spoiler:FATE]]. The real trick is actually locating them, though; the Dragons are scattered across both dimensions and hiding somewhere on their respective islands. |
| 355 | * GrandTheftMe: [[spoiler:Lynx and Serge]] forcibly swap bodies as a step in the former's EvilPlan. |
| 356 | * GratuitousFrench: Harle, the ([[AntiVillain Anti]]-)VillainousHarlequin, does this a lot. The foppish FakeUltimateHero Pierre peppers his speech with French as well. |
| 357 | * GratuitousLatin: Three bosses in the Sea of Eden are named Vita Unus, Vita Dos, and Vita Tres (Life One, Two, and Three). |
| 358 | * GravityMaster: Black-aligned [[FunctionalMagic elements]] invoke precisely the non-distinction between gravity and darkness described in the page intro. |
| 359 | * GreyAndGreyMorality: Almost no one in ''Chrono Cross'' can be truly called evil, apart from, perhaps, the Masamune itself. And even then, the sword has been corrupted by years of abuse. |
| 360 | * GrievousHarmWithABody: There's an automaton enemy that does this. |
| 361 | * GroinAttack: Many of the playable characters are rather short, and most enemies' attack animations aim low to compensate so it'll look like they're actually connecting instead of damaging the blank air above them. Okay, great...except everyone ''except'' those shorter characters get swatted in the crotch. It gets worse; certain short enemies fight [[{{Squick}} with their tongues]]. |
| 362 | * GroundhogDayLoop: The ghosts of Chonopolis are stuck in one. |
| 363 | * GuideDangIt: Several of the characters (including some who have significant plot importance!), as well as the best weapon of the game and many characters' Level 7 techs. And, of course, the good ending. Ironically, the actual official player's guide goes out of its way to ''not'' explain how to accomplish the True Ending, vaguely hinting at it instead. |
| 364 | ** A particularly infamous one. In order to defeat the final boss correctly, you have to [[spoiler:use your elements in a specific order against the Time Devourer, the Final Boss. Each element has a color, and each color of spell emits a different tone when cast. During the final battle with the Time Devourer, you have to play a song with these tones in order to rescue Schala from within the boss.]] The final dungeon and the Criosphinx both hint rather heavily at this, but it's still a hellish leap of logic to put those pieces together. And it's mentioned very vaguely by a couple of characters if (and only if) you have the titular Chrono Cross with you when you meet them, and that's it. |
| 365 | ** The Chrono Cross itself is a fair example of this, as the location where it is acquired is mentioned once, not marked on the world map, completely useless in one dimension, and can only be activated past a certain point in the storyline. And without the Cross, all you get for an ending is [[AWinnerIsYou 'Fin']]. And the Cross itself comes up as a subject of conversation once, by the same couple of characters, only if you don't have it the one time you meet them. So if you use that hint to go and get it, you'll never get any in-game indication of what it does. |
| 366 | ** All of the level 7 Summon elements fall into this, being that you have to set a trap specifically for that particular spell in order to steal it. Exactly one out of the six is held by an enemy that makes any sense having the spell, and for several you have to set the stage specifically for that summon. |
| 367 | *** In fact, getting decent use out of any of your Traps tends to take a {{Walkthrough}}, since they mostly require foreknowledge of boss patterns ''and'' there's a sizeable part of the game where you're cut off from the trap shop in Marbule, during which several good elements are available to be trapped. If you don't know this is coming ahead of time, you'll miss out on [=HolyLight=], [=BlackHole=], and several others. |
| 368 | ** The level seven techs for the majority of the characters aren't unlocked with stars; they have to do a sidequest to find them. These range from the simple to the completely unintuitive. The only good way to reliably find them is to put characters in your party, then roam the world aimlessly interacting with everything. Not helping is how many can be {{Permanently Missable|Content}}. Leena's is lost unless you picked the right answers to her questions on Opassa Beach, at the very beginning of the game. Razzly's (when recruiting her is already easy to miss) requires you to kill the Hydra, refuse to release its offspring, and [[spoiler:let her sister die when the dwarves attack]]. |
| 369 | ** Several of the characters can be tricky to recruit. Leena, a blue-innate magical powerhouse, can only be recruited if you turn down Kid three times at Cape Howl. Most irritatingly, recruiting Glenn, who is almost as powerful as Serge, requires you to [[spoiler:leave Kid to die after Lynx poisons her]]. One character, Pip, won't rejoin you automatically (unlike the rest of the characters you recruit [[spoiler:as Serge]]), which you may not even ''notice'' due to the game's large cast. You have to find him and talk to him to get him back (though he is notably the ''only'' character who can rejoin you earlier [[spoiler: while you are still in Lynx's body]]), which isn't mentioned ''anywhere'', not even in the official guide. |
| 370 | ** See all those Rainbow Shells you've been picking up all through the game? Wouldn't it be nice to use those to craft things? Well, go right ahead and try. No luck? First, you have to do a sidequest for Zappa to get him his ultimate hammer. Then, you have to get 'shiny' materials, which are found by killing regular monsters with the summon elements. |
| 371 | * GunsAreWorthless: Guns use the attack stat and are thus more powerful than in ''Trigger'', but they are still no more powerful than other weapons of their rank. |
| 372 | * HailfirePeaks: Mt. Pyre, should you choose to [[ExploitedTrope exploit]] a key item and cause the magma to freeze over. In [[PathOfMostResistance a fit of sadism]], the treasure chests also freeze, preventing you from ever opening them. |
| 373 | * HalfwayPlotSwitch: Happens more than once during the course of the game. The game starts with Serge finding himself in another world where he died as a child, and needing to figure out how and why it happened. [[spoiler: Then Serge's body gets switched with Lynx and you need to find a way to undo it.]] Then you finally defeat the guy who's been presented as the ''BigBad'' most of the game, only for [[spoiler: the dragon gods to merge together to form the "Time Devourer"]] resulting in another Big Bad to face who has nothing to do with the first. Then you defeat '''that''' Big Bad, and [[spoiler: discover you have to save Schala from the true Time Devourer, who was manipulating the false one.]] |
| 374 | * HappyEndingOverride: Several events in ''Chrono Cross'''s backstory have unpleasant implications for the characters of ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'', though their fates are never directly addressed. |
| 375 | * HappyHarlequinHat: Harle wears one of these along side a full jester ensemble. |
| 376 | * HartmanHips: Even though many of the female characters embody this trope, Lady Riddel stands out the most. |
| 377 | * HatePlague: The Masamune brings out the worst subconscious desires in people. [[spoiler:Radius]] was compelled to stab his closest friend Garai {{in the back}}, thus claiming the sword for himself and [[KlingonPromotion becoming the head Deva.]] |
| 378 | * HeadsIWinTailsYouLose: Inverted with Lynx vs. Kid in Fort Dragonia. [[spoiler:YOU are Lynx at this point, and Kid, Lynx in your body, and your third teammate are trying to beat you down. You are expected to lose the fight pretty horribly. But in a NG+, you can actually win the fight single handedly. If you do, Kid manages to stagger to her feet and shank you, causing the story to continue as normal.]] |
| 379 | * HealingWinds: The Green element, which governs wind, includes various healing spells. |
| 380 | * HealItWithWater: The Blue element, which governs water and ice, includes a large number of powerful healing spells. |
| 381 | * HeavyMetalUmlaut: A notable non-music example is Irenes, where this is her VerbalTic. |
| 382 | * TheHecateSisters: The islands in the Sea of Eden have maiden/mother/crone statues. The statues don't do anything and have no plot relevance - apparently this was included for symbolism for symbolism's sake. |
| 383 | * HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler: The Dragoons]]. [[spoiler: Harle]]... [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor kind of]]. And to a lesser extent [[spoiler:Lynx/You]]. |
| 384 | * HeelRealization: Mojo(y) comes to terms, in a couple optional events, with the fact that he was designed to place curses on people. |
| 385 | * HeKnowsAboutTimedHits: Radius kindly instructs the player on Field Effect in the beginning of the game, while Solt and Peppor explain a new mechanic to you almost every time you fight them. |
| 386 | * HelloInsertNameHere: The game plays it somewhat weirdly: The names you give the characters are explicitly ''nicknames'', which explains why there are several cases of characters who ''already have names'' getting naming screens. You can call anyone anything you want... with the exception that the game will not let you give Serge the nickname [[VideoGame/ChronoTrigger Crono or Chrono]]. You can, however, name him [[NoIndoorVoice CHRONO]]. |
| 387 | ** A strange aversion of this occurs [[spoiler:when you fight Lynx in Serge's body at Fort Dragonia]]. The game uses [[spoiler:"Dark Serge"]] even if you '''don't''' use "Serge" as his in-game name. |
| 388 | * HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic: Inverted. Zoah, instead of wearing a suit of armor without a helmet, wears the ''helmet'' without the ''armor''... or [[WalkingShirtlessScene much of anything else]]. |
| 389 | * HeroicFireRescue: There's an optional scene with Kid that involves doing this. Bonus points for it being a burning ''orphanage''. |
| 390 | * HeroicMime: Serge's title on the status screen is actually "[[LampshadeHanging Silent Protagonist]]", though he does apparently speak a few times when answering questions or explaining things to other characters -- though we never see his dialogue. One of the biggest shocks of the game is when [[spoiler:he ''actually says something''... because Lynx has pulled a GrandTheftMe and is now inhabiting his body]]. |
| 391 | * HideYourChildren: Averted, the game features a nine-year-old girl. As a BossBattle. Go ahead and beat the crap out of her. She even shows up again in another BossBattle, with her co-workers, a big brawler and an axe swinger, and is considered at least equal in power to them. |
| 392 | * HijackedByGanon: The whole game is, ultimately, an elaborate scheme to kill [[spoiler:Lavos, the BigBad of ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'']] in a way that doesn't result in a TimeParadox. |
| 393 | * HopelessBossFight: |
| 394 | ** Radius is unbeatable during the tutorial battle in the beginning of the game. Even in NewGamePlus, where Serge may well be powerful enough to destroy the FinalBoss singlehandedly, you can't take Radius down. If you survive for a few turns after he starts trying to knock you out, though, he'll compliment you and simply end the battle. |
| 395 | ** Immediately after [[spoiler:Lynx pulls a GrandTheftMe on Serge, swapping their bodies]], you end up fighting [[spoiler:''your own party'']]. Even if you manage to beat the odds and take them down (which is far from easy), you still lose when [[spoiler:Kid drags herself up and [[HeadsIWinTailsYouLose stabs Serge-in-Lynx's-body]] before collapsing again]]. |
| 396 | * HotBlade: One of the bosses uses a {{Steampunk}} version (a NighInvulnerable, HumongousMecha), but this is technically a fantasy setting. |
| 397 | * HowDidWeGetBackHome: At the end of the game, the split timelines are united ("fixed"), and everyone supposedly returns to their respective home, with Serge waking up at Opassa Beach by Leena's side. Worthy of note is that he can always flee from the FinalBattle if he so wishes, but it's Schala's power that sends him back after the job is done. |
| 398 | * HubCity: Termina is the first major stop once the player leaves Arni, it's where the majority of characters are recruited, it's where Serge must find a guide to Viper Manor, it's clearly a center of trade and politics as well as being the de facto capital of El Nido (Viper may have a manor he rules from, but the presence of his statue in Termina and the numerous times dragoons and Devas are seen there suggests it's where he has most of his political power), and its invasion by Porre (whether trying to prevent it, ousting them after the fact, or trying to maneuver through it post-occupation) is a major event in the game no matter which world you're in. [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Even its name implies as much]]. |
| 399 | * HumansAreTheRealMonsters: Many demi-humans have this opinion. One of the endings revolves around it. Then there's the lore given within the game that paints humans as an unnatural evolution due to exposure to Lavos, effectively stating that humans ''can't'' live in harmony with nature. |
| 400 | * HurricaneOfPuns: PunnyNames (a father and son named "Gogh" and "Van"), punny attack names ("24 Carrot")... |
| 401 | * HustlingTheMark: How the alternate world Fargo takes your boat. [[HoistByHisOwnPetard It backfires]]. |
| 402 | * {{Hypocrite}}: The dwarfs. Everything they accuse humans of, they do themselves. |
| 403 | * AnIcePerson: Blue-innate characters, combined with MakingASplash, given that blue consists of water and ice elements. |
| 404 | * IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace: ''Lots'' of fun places in El Nido, like Death's Door, the Dead Sea, and the Isle of the Damned. (To say nothing of "[[Literature/ParadiseLost Where Angels Lose Their Way]]"). |
| 405 | * IFightForTheStrongestSide: Grobyc is this, abandoning Porre for the party after Serge and co defeats him. |
| 406 | * ImmuneToFate: Being at the very center of the maelstrom of fate, [[HeroicMime Serge]] is able to buck its control. Fate spends almost the entire game trying to reestablish control over him, first [[spoiler:having Lynx steal his body]], then just [[spoiler:trying to kill him]]. |
| 407 | * ImprobablePowerDiscrepancy: Used extensively; the party fights the Dragoon Devas, effectively the strongest people in El Nido, in one of the first arcs of the game, and it only escalates from there. |
| 408 | * ImprobableWeaponUser: A few characters fight with "domestic" implements (like brooms, mixing spoons, and frying pans), several others use instruments (a guitar and a harp, for example), and one uses ''carrots''. Serge's swallow, a spear with curved blades on each end, is actually a boat oar -- it's based on eku-jutsu, a real life Okinawan fighting style using boat oars. |
| 409 | * InconsistentDub: Unusually averted, where Luminaire and the Flea/Slash/Ozzie trio, for instance, were translated the same as in ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger''. |
| 410 | * INeverSaidItWasPoison: How Kid realizes (just when it's too late) that Lynx [[spoiler:has switched bodies with Serge]]: |
| 411 | -->'''Kid:''' How do you know Lucca's name? Not once did I ever mention Lucca's name to you... |
| 412 | * InfinityMinusOneSword / InfinityPlusOneSword: |
| 413 | ** Serge's two best weapons are an odd case -- the spectral swallow is the rainbow shell version of his basic weapon, while the Mastermune is a special one granted by a side quest. The spectral swallow has a higher base attack rating, but the Mastermune has a much better critical hit rate, making it do more, but slightly less consistent, damage. It's a bit ambiguous which is Infinity-1 and which is Infinity+1. The waters are further muddied in that you can potentially get the Mastermune much earlier, but you can only bring the Spectral Swallow into New Game+. |
| 414 | ** Glenn can acquire the legendary holy sword, Einlanzer, which constitutes a character-specific Infinity-1 sword. The Infinity+1 version is dimension-hopping in order to get a ''second'' one, and then [[DualWielding using them simultaneously]]. And keep in mind he has a Dual Tech with Serge, making the pair one of the most powerful teams in the game. |
| 415 | ** In a general sense the Rainbow weapons are this for everyone without a unique weapon. |
| 416 | ** In terms of InfinityPlusOneArmor, the various elemental plates render a lot of bosses helpless due to soaking up their most powerful attacks for free healing. |
| 417 | * InfoDump: The Chronopolis segment is particularly guilty of this. The [[spoiler:apparitions on Opassa Beach]] right before the final battle also lay it on thick. |
| 418 | * InHarmonyWithNature: In a timeline where Lavos didn't kill off the reptites, humans were wiped off the map a hundred million years ago, and the [[spoiler:Dragonians]] live in idyllic coexistence with other species. |
| 419 | * InMediasRes: After naming the main character, you're thrust into a sequence where he, Kid, and a random potential party member are going after Lynx. Eventually some strange events occur, and.. Serge wakes up in his bed at home. Naturally he was DreamingOfThingsToCome. |
| 420 | * InSeriesNickname: In the North American version, certain children from your village will add a "y" to the end of the main character's name. This works fine for the default "Serge" (which becomes "Sergey") and most other names [[HelloInsertNameHere you can give the main character]], but can result in some odd nicknames (like "Marcoy" or "Tonyy", for example). |
| 421 | * InterdimensionalTravelDevice: The Astral Amulet that Kid gives you early in the game, but it can only be used on Opassa Beach. Serge uses Kid's Astral Amulet to travel between his world and the other world which was created 10 years ago due to a universal split where Serge is alive in one universe and dead in the other. |
| 422 | * InterfaceScrew: The Flu status ailment, which would cause a slight amount of this when moving on the overmap. |
| 423 | * InterfaceSpoiler: The game's blacksmithy screen displays huge box reserved for characters who can equip a particular weapon; you know that you're not anywhere near the end of the game until that box is mostly filled in, which makes things like the DiscOneFinalBoss rather less effective than they might have been otherwise. |
| 424 | * ISayWhatISay: When you bring some of your party members to meet their counterparts in the alternate universe, they will sometimes do this--for example, the two Radiuses immediately spar to test each other and laugh in unison after complimenting the other's skills. |
| 425 | * IShallTauntYou: Kid insults some guards until they open the cage she's stuck in, at which point the party kills them. Poor guys. |
| 426 | * ItemCrafting: Whenever you buy equipment you have to give up the necessary materials to forge. You can also disassemble them to get the materials used to make them. Note that the [[InfinityPlusOneSword very best buyable equipment]] requires "shiny" materials. These can only be obtained by disassembling certain accessories or by using SummonMagic to kill foes, which can be annoying to actually accomplish -- especially since you can only use elements once per battle, so if you unleash a summon and your target ''survives'', you don't get the item. |
| 427 | * ItsAWonderfulFailure: The GameOver screen, in addition to playing some [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2Xo5xay5yo truly depressing music]], informs the player that [[UnPerson Serge has been erased from the timeline.]] |
| 428 | -->''Thus the life force called Serge was not even allowed to be born into this world.\ |
| 429 | Fate has no forgiveness for those who dare stand against it...'' |
| 430 | * ItsAWonderfulPlot: The early part of the game revolves around figuring out why Serge is dead in Another World, but the differences between the two worlds aren't really driven home until you end up back in Home World some time later and get to explore it, revealing the significant differences caused by Serge's death (or lack thereof). |
| 431 | * IWillFindYou: At the end, [[spoiler:Kid promises Serge]] that she'll use her newfound powers to find him in the timelines, no matter how long it takes. |
| 432 | * JigsawPuzzlePlot: The game's plot is intricate by itself, and it's presented out of order, by multiple people with differing agendas, some of which are [[UnreliableExpositor unreliable]] (including some who are [[GambitRoulette explicitly trying to manipulate you]]), so it's no surprise that things are a bit difficult to piece together. |
| 433 | * JoinedYourParty: [[GotMeDoingIt Those messages are personalized for each character's gimmick/accent/verbal tic.]] Several memorable examples include "[[MaskedLuchador Greco]] tagged into your party!", "[[ValleyGirl Marcy]], like, joined your party!", and "[[NoIndoorVoice ZOAH]] JOINED YOUR PARTY." |
| 434 | * JunglePrincess: You meet Ayla's {{Expy}} Leah (who implied to be Ayla's mother) in its requisite jungle stage. |
| 435 | * JustifiedSavePoint: People pray to the Records of Fate for good luck. [[spoiler:It's a machine devised by FATE to experiment on her progeny]] and prevent them from interacting with [[spoiler:the outside world]]. |
| 436 | [[/folder]] |
| 437 | |
| 438 | [[folder:K - O]] |
| 439 | * KingIncognito: The Sage of Marbule is by all appearances anything but. Like the rest of his clan, he does menial labor on Fargo's pirate/cruise ship, at least until Serge & co shake things up. |
| 440 | * KleptomaniacHero: Played straight for the most part, but {{Lampshaded}} a few times as well. |
| 441 | ** In Viper Manor, Karsh scolds the player if they try to loot the chest in his room while he's ''sitting right there''. He'll let you loot it, but only after pestering him a lot. |
| 442 | ** The same thing happens on Zoah's room. However, no matter how many times you try, he will not let you open it. Coming back to the mansion and you still can't open it. [[spoiler:Only Zoah can open it; you have to not only have him in your party, but have him in the lead, in order to get it. It has his level 7 tech inside.]] |
| 443 | * KudzuPlot: The game ''starts'' with ItsAWonderfulPlot as demonstrated by the existence of an AlternateUniverse where Serge is dead, and only gets more complicated from there. This [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools isn't a bad thing]], as the dense narrative is part and parcel of the game's signature style -- and it ''does'' wrap up all the various plot threads eventually. |
| 444 | * LastDiscMagic: The titular Chrono Cross, which is only effective on the Final Boss (and required for the good ending). |
| 445 | * LateCharacterSyndrome: A far bigger problem. With 44 playable characters and only three fighters in battle (and one of those slots [[CantDropTheHero has to be filled by Serge]] until NewGamePlus), most late-game characters never see use. Especially since early-game characters Glenn and Razzly can slaughter anything they see with ease. |
| 446 | * LavaIsBoilingKoolAid: A rather dangerous use of the trope in Mt. Pyre, where walking over lava without first using the "Ice Breath" causes the party's HP to silently drop to 1. Thing is, the game simply places a water layer over a brightly-lit path on the map. Due to the game's sometimes extensive use of bloom effects on its environments, new players may easily mistake what the game explicitly refers to as lava for actual, ordinary water. |
| 447 | * LavaMagicIsFire: The HerdHittingAttack Red element spells that usually involve flame have magma and volcanoes as a part of their animations and names. |
| 448 | * LawOfCartographicalElegance: The game takes place in a small section of the ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' world, so there's at least some reason. That, plus you never get an airship, and apparently there's only one strait that leads to the greater world, which conveniently has a strong current inwards, and your watercraft are never strong enough to go against it. |
| 449 | * TheLawOfConservationOfDetail: Subverted. Of the portraits that characters have, forty of them are playable characters, five of them are alternate versions of the playable characters, and twenty six of them are [=NPCs=]. Of the [=NPCs=], one is unimportant: a shopkeeper you meet early on. Throughout the game you become convinced she'll be important, but she never does, being the only one of the characters who isn't. She is, however, ''related'' to Funguy. Every single NPC with a character portrait seems to be related to one of the [=PCs=]. |
| 450 | * LazyBackup: Normally you can only switch party members at save points, unless the plot calls for a certain character, at which point they just walk on from offscreen. This leads to some strange moments, such as the fight with [[spoiler: OptionalBoss Dario]]. Depending on your party composition, up to two extra party members will walk up right before the fight to explain the plot, but then will just stand there as your party gets slaughtered without doing anything. A very sad example, given both this particular plotline and the fact that he's ThatOneBoss. |
| 451 | * LeaningOnTheFourthWall: During the opening FMV, Kid reaches out her hand toward the camera, clearly to Serge -- but it also doubles as an invitation to the player/audience to join in the adventure. |
| 452 | * LegacyBossBattle: Ozzie, Slash and Flea, a group of recurring bosses from ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'', can be found and fought in the Bend of Time. Since they're only found during a NewGamePlus, they're harder than in the original game. |
| 453 | * TheLegendOfChekhov: Some of the local legends recounted to the protagonists are correct but... slightly skewed. |
| 454 | * LethalJokeCharacter: Poshul and Pierre, two rather pathetic characters, get significantly powered up when equipped with the proper key items. Poshul only needs one, but Pierre needs ''three''. |
| 455 | * LighterAndSofter: Compared to the other Square games of the [=PlayStation=] era, specially the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' ones, this one here is more optimistic despite its dark elements. The developers admitted that to differentiate, they aimed to have plenty of comedy (leading to many silly characters, attacks, and situations). From [[http://chronocompendium.com/Term/Supporting_Material_Translation.html#Developer_Interviews an interview with the developers]]: |
| 456 | -->"We said that if games like ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' or ''VideoGame/VagrantStory'' were ''Franchise/StarWars'', then we were ''Film/AustinPowers''. Trying to make people laugh whatever the situation was a route that hadn’t been taken before, so we got over-enthusiastic and went too far." |
| 457 | ** It's also lighter and softer than ''VisualNovel/RadicalDreamers'', which it is based off of/an expansion of. In ''Radical Dreamers'', there is an AfterTheEnd feeling to Viper Manor, a run down mansion filled with monsters and death traps. Within, we learn that the Dragoons were betrayed and murdered by Lynx, leaving Riddle stuck in captivity and a man who looks suspiciously like Radius trapped in the dungeon, with the man clearly having gone insane with guilt. In ''Chrono Cross'', the manor is just an active military outpost for the Dragoons, who are perfectly alive and well. The mission to get inside is less horror filled and more adventurous; and the traps you do have to deal with are less lethal and horrifying. |
| 458 | * LightEmUp: The White element, which included light beams as well as [[HolyHandGrenade heavenly objects]] such as comets. Like Crono above, [[TheHero Serge]] himself is a White-innate. |
| 459 | * LightningCanDoAnything: Although Serge doesn't remember, he has visited Chronopolis before: fourteen years earlier, [[spoiler:Schala]]'s influence formed an electrical storm over the island, blowing out its defenses and causing Wazuki and a young Serge to stumble upon it. |
| 460 | * LikeIsLikeAComma: Due to the game's many verbal tics, Marcy has this for variation. |
| 461 | * LittleMissBadass: Marcy. Leah's more a CuteBruiser sort, but Marcy is more than happy to tell you her opinion of you as she's beating you down. |
| 462 | * LivingMemory: Used to represent destroyed timelines. Three of them take the forms of chibi versions of [[VideoGame/ChronoTrigger Crono, Lucca, and Marle]], but this appears to be primarily a RedHerring (or a PlayerPunch) rather than having much relevance. |
| 463 | * LivingStatue: One of the playable characters is a statue (or more precisely, a voodoo doll) that comes into life if the player shows its owner an item acquired from the owner's counterpart in a parallel reality. |
| 464 | * LoadBearingBoss: Defeating [[spoiler:Miguel]] causes the [[spoiler:time distortion in the Dead Sea]] to explode spectacularly. |
| 465 | * LongGame: [[spoiler:FATE]] expertly toys with El Nido in order to keep history on track, as well as working to unlock the Frozen Flame from her vault. Meanwhile, her [[spoiler:Dragonian]] rivals patiently wait for Chronopolis' defenses to fall so they can swoop in and snag the Flame for themselves. And operating behind the scenes is [[spoiler:the Prophet of Time, still working to destroy the Time Devourer and save all creation]]. |
| 466 | * LongSongShortScene: |
| 467 | ** The amazing song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMntblDX0Bg&fmt=18 The Dream that Time Dreams]]" (frequently [[SpellMyNameWithAnS translated as]] "Time of the Dreamwatch"), an absolutely epic piece which consists of melodies from the original ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' soundtrack (as well as the theme of ''VisualNovel/RadicalDreamers'', "Distant Promise") done in this game's signature style, plays in exactly two places in the game: one of the more obscure MultipleEndings, and the game's ''AttractMode''. At least it's on the OST... |
| 468 | ** The Home World Termina theme's intro doesn't get much use. You'll hear the Home Termina theme quite a bit in the one in Another World [[spoiler:after Porre takes over it]], but that's a shortened version that opens with a crescendo of bagpipes that normally plays after the part cut in this situation. The easiest way to hear it is during a small scene in which Glenn is asking for bellflowers from a merchant at the entrance of Another Termina, but the music for that version kicks in right after the conversation ends. As for Home Termina, for some reason later in the game its music is replaced by Fossil Valley's music, "Drowned Valley." |
| 469 | * LosingYourHead: One skeleton character, which you have to assemble, starts off as a talking skull. |
| 470 | * TheLostWoods: The game had a few of these. |
| 471 | ** Shadow Forest, like most of ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger's'' forests, is actually very accessible to human foot traffic in the game, but retains its ancient pristine cloud forest feel. |
| 472 | ** Gaea's Navel is far more remote and inaccessible, located on a plateau island with steep cliffs on all sides, complete with an unspoilt LostWorld on top. |
| 473 | * LostWorld: Gaia's Navel is at the center of an inaccessible island (you have to be flown there). It's basically 65,000,000 B.C. from ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' in the modern day -- it even has a younger {{Expy}} of Ayla, Leah, who joins your party [[spoiler: and is implied to be her mother]]. |
| 474 | * LovecraftLite: The Time Devourer threatens to consume all space and time, ending ''everything'' in ''all timelines''. Naturally, Serge & co are out to stop it. |
| 475 | * LukeIAmYourFather: Maybe a record of how many times this trope is used in a game. Several characters are revealed to be related. Admittedly a lot of the times both parent and child know of their relations, it's just Serge & his party that get the reveal. Examples include: |
| 476 | ** Serge, [[spoiler:Lynx]] is your father. |
| 477 | ** Kid, you are... [[spoiler:uh, [[MyOwnGrampa your own mother]]]]. Kind of. |
| 478 | ** Nikki, [[spoiler:Fargo]] is your father. And [[spoiler:Marcy]] is your sister, as well. And [[spoiler:Irenes]] is your aunt. Such varied career paths in one family! |
| 479 | * {{Lunacy}}: Harle, the harlequin minion of villain Lynx, has a lot of moon-related imagery in her tech attacks and the like. Late in the game, this is revealed to be because she [[spoiler:is the Dark Moon Dragon, created by the other six Dragons to be a servant of the Dragon God]]. |
| 480 | * MacGuffinDeliveryService: There's a reason why [[Website/TheGrandListOfConsoleRolePlayingGameCliches the RPG cliche list]] calls this 'Way to Go, Serge'. [[UnwittingPawn The plots Serge falls into]] get so [[GambitPileup mixed up at times]], though, that fans dedicate whole documents on [=GameFAQs=] to just untangling and explaining them all. |
| 481 | * MacguffinTitle: Notable in that it is entirely possible [[GuideDangIt and quite likely, if you aren't playing with a guide]], to avoid getting the Chrono Cross. |
| 482 | * MadeOfEvil: The Masamune fell into the wrong hands sometime after the fall of Guardia. It has since absorbed so much blood that its aura has become malevolent. You aren't handling the sword -- the ''sword'' is handling ''you.'' |
| 483 | * MadLibsDialogue: A very interesting ''non-voice'' version of this. Because there are so many characters, and many characters have their own {{Verbal Tic}}s, the side character dialogue was dynamically "tinkered" with for each character, allowing some to call the SilentProtagonist "Sergey", "Mister S", "Sir Serge", etc., and others to drop their g's, add a lisp, or speak all in capitals. Although this generally was pretty good, there were a few goofs where you might have two apostrophes in a row, for example, or a name that ended in two Y's, or a name that just didn't work with a Y at the end (Franco turning into Francoy, for example). |
| 484 | * MagicKnight: Characters have to make physical attacks before they can use their spells, and they can all cast spells, making everyone a MagicKnight. |
| 485 | * MagicMusic: A mermaid song is used to rid a town of monsters. And then of course, there's [[spoiler:the song that defeats the final boss and gets you the GoldenEnding]]. |
| 486 | * MagikarpPower: |
| 487 | ** Self-proclaimed "hero" Pierre is among the [[JokeCharacter weakest characters in the game]] -- until you get all three pieces of Hero equipment for him, [[LethalJokeCharacter when he becomes a powerful character with an instant-death attack]]. |
| 488 | ** Pip starts off as a cute little bundle of fluff and is as powerful as it sounds. You can evolve him using a not too complex, but tedious method into an Archangel, Archdevil, or Holy Beast form. They are also as powerful as they sound. |
| 489 | * {{Magitek}}: The highest sort of technology, such as that used by Chronopolis, is intimately tied with magic, to the point where the question of where the magic begins and where the tech ends is mostly academic. |
| 490 | * MagneticHero: Only a few of the 40+ characters join Serge because their own ambition drives them to seek the [[McGuffin Frozen Flame]] (and even then, they become subservient to him instantly.) The others join up simply for the reasons described on the trope page, or BecauseDestinySaysSo. |
| 491 | * MakingASplash: The blue innate encompasses both water and ice, similar to ''Chrono Trigger''. Any character can equip blue Elements to use in battle. Irenes, a mermaid, is the only character who uses water in her special attacks. |
| 492 | * MarathonLevel: Terra Tower, [[spoiler:a Reptite city dragged into time from another dimension]]. Not only is it very, very long, but it's also full of enemies and minibosses that take long to defeat. |
| 493 | * MaskedLuchador: Greco (a MeaningfulName, especially with his ward Romana -- wrestling pun). He's also both a psychic ''and'' a priest. Did we mention ''Chrono Cross'' can be kind of weird? |
| 494 | * MassTeleportation: [[spoiler:Chronopolis]] semi-accidentally did this to itself, creating both [[spoiler:the Sea of Eden and the Dead Sea]]. |
| 495 | * MasterComputer: [[spoiler:F.A.T.E.]] is also a master computer. You can also [[ScrewDestiny literally fight]] it. |
| 496 | * MechaMooks: There are some in the Dead Sea, but Chronopolis crawls with them. |
| 497 | * MementoMacGuffin: A pendant similar to the one featured in ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' (maybe even [[WildMassGuessing the same one]]) plays an important role, allowing the protagonist's team to travel between dimensions. [[spoiler: Kid also carries another one that protects her from mortal danger by restoring her body and mind to the last time she was safe. [[FridgeLogic Where does Schala get all these pendants, anyway?]]]] |
| 498 | * MermaidProblem: The game never really explains just how [[spoiler:the human Fargo and the mermaid [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demi-human]] Zelbess]] not only had a relationship, but managed to have two kids! |
| 499 | * MindScrew: Given the plot keeps on piling up and has some TimeyWimeyBall involved, many moments result in this. The Dead Sea in particular [[http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps/196917-chrono-cross/faqs/11051 inspired much]] [[http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Salt_for_the_Dead_Sea.html discussion]]. |
| 500 | * MirrorReveal: After Funguy notices the party staring at him, he looks in a nearby pool of water and flips out when he sees that he's become a mushroom. |
| 501 | * ModestyShorts: For the remaster, younger characters like Marcy, Razzly, and Leah are given shorts underneath their outfits to prevent the exposure of their underwear. |
| 502 | * MonsterArena: This game also has the "arena for monsters" version. It also had the 'normal' version at the Bend of Time. |
| 503 | * MonsterClown: |
| 504 | ** The game features an interesting exception in the form of Skelly: while he is both a monster due to being an animated skeleton as well as a clown, he's presented in a wholly sympathetic light, all except one of his body parts you need to collect to assemble him have complimenting item descriptions and he has a loving grandmother to boot. |
| 505 | ** Harle (short for "[[PunnyName harlequin]]") also counts, technically, as she's revealed to be [[spoiler:the Seventh Dragon.]] |
| 506 | * MonsterIsAMommy: The game actually uses this in a ''positive'' way: After having to kill a monster that's the LastOfHisKind, they find that its last act was to give birth (hopefully to a self-sufficient brood), and continue the species. Oddly, you only discover this if you have a certain character in the party, and doing so deprives them of their LastDiscMagic. |
| 507 | * MonsterTown: Marbule, a place where only Demi-humans lived. This trope is also played with when you're forced to play as [[spoiler:Lynx]] and the majority of possible recruitables are Demi-Humans, in which case human settlements are the MonsterTown for you. Aesop, much? |
| 508 | * MoonLogicPuzzle: Beating the FinalBoss ([[GoldenEnding correctly]]) requires you to essentially play a song by casting elements of certain colors in a specific order. While the sequence in question appears repeatedly in the game, it's never explicitly tied to the final boss itself, leaving the player to make that connection themselves. |
| 509 | * MultipleEndings: The game has two "normal" endings for your first playthrough, and then numerous additional endings you can get during NewGamePlus, based on when you defeat the FinalBoss (which is available right from the beginning during NewGamePlus). |
| 510 | * {{Mundanization}}: The ending has someone, apparently Kid, in our world shown realistically. |
| 511 | * MurderTheHypotenuse: This is apparently played straight when [[spoiler:Karsh murdered Dario in the Isle of the Damned]]. Subverted when it turns out that [[spoiler:Dario was possessed by Masamune at that time, and when he declared his intent to slake the Masamune with Riddel's blood, Karsh went berserk and struck him down]]. |
| 512 | * MushroomMan: Funguy. He was originally a normal human, but became a humanoid fungus after eating an enchanted mushroom. |
| 513 | * MusicalAssassin: Nikki. His weapon was, of course, a guitar (the guitar ''pick'', if you wanna get technical), and his basic attack was playing it. His first special was to bludgeon someone with it, Hendrix-style. Irenes did something similar with her harp. And of course, there's bunnygirl Jan, who beats on a drum with a carrot. |
| 514 | * MusicalEpisode: The Marbule sequence involves Nikki and his band performing some MagicMusic in order to allow the party to fight monsters that are normally incorporeal. |
| 515 | * MusicalNod: The soundtrack contains numerous references to both ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' and ''VisualNovel/RadicalDreamers'', some more subtle than others: |
| 516 | ** The opening theme, "Scars of Time", contains a passage reminiscent of part of the opening theme for ''Trigger'' |
| 517 | ** "The Dream that Time Dreams", "Fields of Time" and "Chronomantique" all contain the iconic main theme to ''Trigger'' |
| 518 | ** Lucca's theme from ''Trigger'' is used as the victory fanfare for ''Cross'', with two different versions of it for regular battles and boss fights. |
| 519 | ** The theme for Fort Dragonia contains a very brief passage reminiscent of part of "Burn! Bobonga!". This makes an obscure sort of sense, since the latter was associated with the 65,000,000 B.C. time period when the Reptites lived, and the Dragonians who built the fort seem to be descendants of the Reptites. |
| 520 | ** The theme for the Dead Sea bears some subtle resemblances to "The Sealed Door" from ''Trigger'' |
| 521 | ** The theme for the Earth Dragon's Isle contains passages from the Lavos Core boss theme in ''Trigger'', which is perhaps a subtle hint as to the Dragons' ultimate fate. |
| 522 | ** The Dragon God's boss theme contains nods to the Millennial Fair theme from ''Trigger'' |
| 523 | ** "On the Shore of Dreams" and "The Dream that Time Dreams" contain passages from "Faraway Promise ~ Dream Shore" from ''Radical Dreamers'' |
| 524 | ** "Jellyfish Sea" contains a brief portion taken from "Epilogue" in ''Radical Dreamers'' |
| 525 | ** The pieces "Gale of Battle", "Infiltrating Viper Manor", "The Girl who Stole the Stars" and "The Frozen Flame" are straight-up reused from ''VisualNovel/RadicalDreamers''; not surprising, since ''Chrono Cross'' is essentially an expanded remake of that game. |
| 526 | ** "Life ~ A Distant Promise" contains a brief portion [[spoiler:right after you successfully use the Cross and free Schala from the Time Devourer]] of "Schala's Theme". If the InfoDump right before this hadn't revealed the identity of [[spoiler:the Time Devourer's prisoner]], this would have been a MusicalSpoiler for any players of ''Chrono Trigger''. |
| 527 | * MusicalSpoiler: After the incident at Opassa Beach where you first travel between the dimensions, the first clue that you're not in your own world anymore is that the overworld music has changed from "Fields of Time" to "On the Shore of Dreams ~ Another World". |
| 528 | * MusicalThemeNaming: The game has one that probably counts, [[Music/MotleyCrue Nikki]]. In the Japanese version Nikki was named Slash, so he was renamed for the English translation to [[OneSteveLimit avoid confusion with]] the Slash from ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger''. |
| 529 | * MusicalTrigger: This is how you get the best ending. [[spoiler: In the fight against the Time Devourer, each element color plays a corresponding note when used. You free Schala by using them in the right order to play a specific tune.]] |
| 530 | * MutagenicFood: A character ("[[PunnyName Funguy]]") eats a special mushroom that [[ForcedTransformation transforms]] him into a half-human, half-mushroom person. |
| 531 | * MutualDisadvantage: The game had three sets of opposing elements (Red/Blue, Green/Yellow, Black/White), each dealing increased damage to its opposite and taking reduced damage from itself. |
| 532 | * MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers: There are several branching points in the game where party members from the other path become {{Permanently Missable|Content}} (though NewGamePlus has a feature where you can use all the party members from ''any'' of your playthroughs, if only near the very end of the game). |
| 533 | ** Before entering Viper Manor, you can recruit either Nikki, Guile, or Pierre, and once your guide is chosen the other two characters cannot join your team (until {{New Game|Plus}} or [[NewGamePlus Continue+]], that is). |
| 534 | ** After Viper Manor, your choice with regards to [[spoiler:saving Kid]] yields Korcha, Razzly and Mel on one path, or Glenn, Macha and Doc on the other. |
| 535 | ** You have to choose between recruiting Karsh or Zoah at one point, but the other character can join a while later. |
| 536 | * MyRulesAreNotYourRules: Player characters have to attack multiple times in order to build up enough energy to use higher-level elements, can only use one element per turn, can only use each non-consumable element in their grid once per battle (barring a few instances of party members with the ability to recharge their grids), and require at least one full point of stamina to even act at all. Absolutely none of this applies to enemies, who can use elements immediately without building up energy, use multiple elements per round, will never run out of any of the elements in their arsenal, and are completely exempt from the stamina system. Some enemies are even given high-level elements ordinarily locked to characters with a different innate color than their own, such as [[SecretAIMoves Grobyc (a black innate) being able to use Vigora (which requires a blue innate caster) during his boss battle.]] |
| 537 | * MythologyGag: The game is ''packed full'' of them, not only referencing ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' but also ''VisualNovel/RadicalDreamers''. |
| 538 | ** Glenn's name is a reference to Frog, whose real name before his transformation was... Glenn. |
| 539 | ** In Japanese, Guile's original name is "Alf", a reference to the name of Janus' cat Alfador. |
| 540 | ** Serge's brief journey into Kid's past is a mirror of Lucca's trip to her mother's. They both involve a main character [[spoiler:going to Lucca's house in the past]] in order to prevent something terrible from happening to someone important to them, there's even a machine that requires the same password that it did in the first game. |
| 541 | ** In Home Arni's tavern, some customers make a throwaway reference to the Radical Dreamers, Kid's gang in the titular game. |
| 542 | * NakedOnRevival: Serge is very much naked after the Dragon's Tear grows a new body for him. He somehow gains a full set of clothes by the time he walks out to greet his companions. |
| 543 | * NamedByTheDub: |
| 544 | ** The Arni chef, Orcha's brother, was unnamed in the Japanese version. The English localization gave him one through his restaurant, Belcha's kitchen, renamed from "Wild Hungryman". However, such background graphic edits weren't recreated in the UpdatedRerelease, rendering him nameless again. |
| 545 | ** Zappa's wife was just "Zappa's wife". The English version named her "Zippa". |
| 546 | ** Van's father was simply "Vancliff's Father". The English localization called him "Gogh" to create some FamilyThemeNaming. |
| 547 | * NeverFoundTheBody: Home World's Dragoons have all vanished, having gone on a quest for the Frozen Flame. [[spoiler:They're all dead, having been led to the Dead Sea and frozen by Lynx]]. |
| 548 | * NewGamePlus: Required not once, but twice (meaning three total play-throughs) for OneHundredPercentCompletion. As with ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'', beating the NewGamePlus at different points in the plotline will also result in different ending scenes. |
| 549 | * NiceJobBreakingItHero: Repeatedly. Serge ''[[TropeNamer named the item]]'' on Website/TheGrandListOfConsoleRolePlayingGameCliches. |
| 550 | * NobleTopEnforcer: Harle. She even becomes a temporary party member when Serge's party members leave due to plot reasons. |
| 551 | * NoEnding: The normal ending treats you to a brief animation of the EldritchAbomination final boss escaping through a portal, then a title card saying 'Fin'. The good ending, meanwhile, is firmly cemented in GainaxEnding territory. |
| 552 | * NominalImportance: As mentioned on the trope page, character portraits: with a note to the strange case of the Element shop owner in Termina who has a portrait and name but no real significance. In addition, Leena's brother Una has a face portrait but isn't important to the plot. On the flip side, [[GoldfishPoopGang Solt and Peppor]], who ''are'' reasonably significant (certainly moreso than Lisa or Una), inexplicably lack portraits. |
| 553 | * NonStandardSkillLearning: Very many of the ultimate or signature attacks are only obtained through doing a sidequest, some of which can be impossible to get [[GuideDangIt if you don't make the right decisions]] during gameplay. In fact, getting the special ability for one character, Razzly the fairy, requires that you choose the ''worst'' option out of a quest in the previous disc and results in many innocent deaths (it's the tragedy that ends up empowering her). |
| 554 | * NoRecycling: Non-[[RealTimeStrategy RTS]] exception. You can "disassemble" old weapons and armor at the blacksmith, receiving the various raw materials needed to forge new items. |
| 555 | * NostalgiaLevel: |
| 556 | ** The Time Crash segment ends in a temporally-displaced version of Leene's Square from ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger''. |
| 557 | ** You also have the option of using Kid's memories to travel back in time to her orphanage, which is Lucca's old house. |
| 558 | * NotQuiteDead: It's revealed that [[spoiler:Lavos, the giant space tick that was destroyed by Crono in ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' wasn't quite dead; instead, it fused with Schala and became the [[EldritchAbomination Time Devourer]]. The Devourer itself is also an example; killing it the normal way doesn't work. Due to the nature of the Chronoverse, there will always be a timeline where you didn't kill the Devourer, and it'll just come back from there.]] |
| 559 | * NotSoHarmlessVillain: Solt and Peppor act as [[HeKnowsAboutTimedHits tutorial "boss" battles]] throughout most of the game, [[GoldfishPoopGang being very stupid, incompetent and very easy to beat.]] However, their last appearance as an optional boss battle drops this and puts them up as actual threats, though they don't reach ThatOneBoss level. |
| 560 | * NowWhereWasIGoingAgain: You can get vague hints of where you're supposed to be going by looking at the description in your save file. |
| 561 | * NumericalThemeNaming: The game has a mixture of Latin and Spanish numbers for the Vita boss: Vita Unus, Vita Dos, and Vita Tres. Yes, we are aware that Vita Unus is not proper grammar. |
| 562 | * ObjectShapedLandmass: |
| 563 | ** Sky Dragon Isle is shaped like a crescent moon. [[spoiler:Late in the game's story it unfolds into [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Terra Tower]], with the arms of the crescent also becoming the arm of the tower itself.]] |
| 564 | ** Gaea's Navel is shaped like a cylinder, surrounded on all sides by impassable cliffs. [[spoiler:Ironically, it's the one part of the El Nido Archipelago that ''wasn't'' created by FATE or sent back in time to counter Chronopolis like Terra Tower.]] |
| 565 | * OddlySmallOrganization: In mild contrast to [[VisualNovel/RadicalDreamers its base]] (where it was comprised of three people), the band of thieves called the Radical Dreamers is...really just Kid. |
| 566 | * {{Ojou}}: Lady Riddel is a somewhat meek and retiring noblewoman, though she has her moments of bravery. |
| 567 | * OldMaster: Radius is a 62-year-old Arni village chief and former Dragoon Deva who ''will'' clobber a standard new-game Serge in the opening tutorial. |
| 568 | * OldSoldier: General Viper is a 57-year-old leader of the Acacia dragoons. |
| 569 | * OminousFloatingCastle: Sky Dragon's Isle takes to the skies and transforms into Terra Tower, aka Dinopolis. |
| 570 | * OmnicidalManiac: The Time Devourer, which wants to... devour time. This would, naturally [[ApocalypseHow destroy everything that is, was, or will be]]. |
| 571 | * OneWingedAngel: |
| 572 | ** The 'Dragon of Fire' fight. While the first time you fight him he's fairly small and humanoid, partway through the second fight he will change into an even larger (and cooler) dragon in the style of muscle growth. |
| 573 | ** Happens again to [[spoiler: Dark Serge/Lynx]], who transforms into a bizarre-looking giant purple humanoid embedded into the floor. |
| 574 | * OnlyTheChosenMayWield: Used with the Einlanzer. |
| 575 | * OpeningMonologue: One that [[FauxlosophicNarration doesn't mean much]], but is sure as hell effective at setting the tone. See it in its original form [[http://youtu.be/923fVDDwaHo here]]. |
| 576 | -->''What was the start of all this?\ |
| 577 | When did the cogs of fate begin to turn?\ |
| 578 | Perhaps it is impossible to grasp that answer now,\ |
| 579 | From deep within the flow of time...\ |
| 580 | \ |
| 581 | But, for a certainty, back then,\ |
| 582 | We loved so many, yet hated so much,\ |
| 583 | We hurt others and were hurt ourselves...\ |
| 584 | Yet even then we ran like the wind\ |
| 585 | Whilst our laughter echoed,\ |
| 586 | Under cerulean skies...'' |
| 587 | * OptionalBoss: |
| 588 | ** Fighting Dario is optional. |
| 589 | ** Ozzie, Flea, and Slash (Magus' lackeys from ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'') can optionally be fought. |
| 590 | ** The Criosphynx on Earth Dragon Isle is an optional boss that doubles as a PuzzleBoss. |
| 591 | * OptionalPartyMember: There's an impressively long list of optional characters, and each has dialogue parts in his/her own dialect and speaking style, even in the game's ending. With NewGamePlus, it is more than possible to have even certain villains as party members. In fact, you need to play the game at least three times to be able to recruit everyone. |
| 592 | * OrcusOnHisThrone: [[MasterComputer FATE]] has already succeeded in opening the seal to the [[McGuffin Frozen Flame]] using Serge's body, and she can control the mind of every single inhabitant of El Nido via the Records of Fate. What reason could she possibly have to let Serge and his small army infiltrate Chronopolis, other than brag to them in person about erasing Prometheus? And for an almighty, otherdimensional creature of GaiasVengeance that has [[OmnicidalManiac vowed immediate annihilation upon humanity]], the Dragon God seems pretty content just chilling atop [[OminousFloatingCastle Terra Tower]], keeping an eye on the Frozen Flame, and waiting for the heroes to arrive. |
| 593 | ** Mind, that last one mentioned is averted in one of the [[DownerEnding bleakest]] MultipleEndings ''ever'' if you just leave it to its business instead of taking it out before killing the Time Devourer. |
| 594 | * OrganicTechnology: The Dragons. Their philosophy is that nature is not contrary to technology, judging from the designs of the (relatively) naturalistic Fort Dragonia and Terra Tower, plus the idea of the Dragon God as a sort of organic computer. |
| 595 | * OrphansPlotTrinket: Kid's Astral Amulet. Also a MementoMacGuffin. |
| 596 | * OrWasItADream: This is the [[MultipleEndings ending]] if you end the final boss battle [[PuzzleBoss correctly]]. A very confused [[TheProtagonist Serge]] will wake up next to his girlfriend on the same beach where the plot kicked off, with her telling him that he fell asleep for a few minutes and never left her side. |
| 597 | * OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: The game has dwarves that pilot tanks, wield worker tools in battle, and are short and stocky like normal. They also live in a swamp and seem to hate the fairies (the closest thing the setting has to [[ElvesVersusDwarves elves]], enough to capture them to feed their protector Hydra and murder them for living space. |
| 598 | * OurMermaidsAreDifferent: Mermaids (but no known mermen) are considered ordinary, albeit aquatic, demi-humans. They do not transform on land but can still somehow transport themselves as though walking (necessary for the playable character Irenes), and they can have children with humans (in fact, two of the other playable characters are Irenes's nephew and niece.) The children appear perfectly human (although the son is mentioned to be inhumanly beautiful). No explanation for any of this is even attempted. |
| 599 | * OurSphinxesAreDifferent: The Criosphinx is an ancient, powerful being of unknown origin. It resents the damage humanity did to the world, and jumps you "to preserve the peace of the planet", trapping you in [[RiddlingSphinx a game of riddles]] for trespassing in its lair. If you beat it with smarts, it lets you depart with your lives but gives you no other reward, while if you decide to just bash its face in, it gets pissed but drops a valuable item. |
| 600 | * OutGambitted: The GambitPileup occurs when two factions compete on manipulating entire civilizations (and one of fiction's greatest {{Unwitting Pawn}}s) to further their schemes across time and space, little realizing that they themselves are being played by a Chessmaster who ''nobody'' had accounted for, despite making little effort to hide himself and even having exposition-heavy chats with TheProtagonist on several occasions. |
| 601 | * OverlyLongFightingAnimation: The game has a few of these, especially the summons. However, this game is notable for including a ''fast forward button'' in NewGamePlus (or from the get-go in the remaster), which makes fights much more enjoyable when you've seen all the animations anyway. |
| 602 | * OverlyPrePreparedGag: Solt and Peppor serve as tutorial fights several times. Each time results in Peppor giving instructions on how to best hurt your party, and Solt failing at this in every way possible. This happens five times or so throughout the game. Upon finding the two in Home World, they perform a stage act. Both stand still, and Peppor hits Solt every couple seconds. They do this until you leave the room, and will keep doing it at random as part of the show. Much later in the game, a person in the audience delivers the punchline: "I thought they were a joke at first, but you start liking them after a while!" |
| 603 | * OverworldNotToScale: The game is set entirely on a single archipelago, so its map is limited to the archipelago, but it is freely explorable (and with no RandomEncounters!) and there are a variety of destinations. |
| 604 | [[/folder]] |
| 605 | |
| 606 | [[folder:P - T]] |
| 607 | * PairTheSpares: [[spoiler:Home!Dario + Another!Riddel]] |
| 608 | * PalmtreePanic: Opassa Beach. |
| 609 | * PantheraAwesome: BigBad (actually, TheDragon) [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Lynx]]. |
| 610 | * PanUpToTheSkyEnding: The game has this in its perfect ending--after you [[spoiler:free Schala from the Time Devourer]] and the two worlds are reunited and restored, but before the end credits roll, Serge ends up back on Opassa Beach with Leena right when he passed out [[BookEnds at the start of the game]], and as he's asking about things he wasn't supposed to remember from his adventures, you get the pan. |
| 611 | * ParadoxPerson: Serge, at least after falling into an {{alternate timeline}} where his counterpart died ten years ago. While this naturally disturbs everyone in that timeline's version of his hometown and leads to interesting conversations with a {{fortune teller}} ("You're not dead or anything are you? [...] You just might be the key to the destruction of this entire planet"), it also renders Serge vital to the plans of numerous forces [[UnwittingPawn hoping to use him to their advantage]]. |
| 612 | * ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish: There's an odd example of a password. At one point, the party (disguised as guards) meet another set of guards in front of a treasure room. They are asked the password, and given some logical-sounding choices. None of them work; the password is entered by [[spoiler: just standing there until the guards acknowledge that silence is the password]]. |
| 613 | * PatchworkMap: Perhaps justified by each island belonging to a particular elemental dragon. |
| 614 | * PathOfInspiration: The Records of Fate (the [[SavePoint Save Points]]) were set up as a way for the residents of the El Nido archipelago to not only record what they did, but also get any information they need. [[spoiler:Naturally, this is all a part of the supercomputer FATE's plan to keep the people of El Nido (and YOU) in that area and never wander into the rest of the world that ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' took place in.]] |
| 615 | * PauseScumming: There is a gambling minigame where you have to stop the roulette spinner at the right spot to win prizes. If you pause when the red tip is between west and south and then immediately stop the spinner, you'll win every time. Makes it trivial to get a lot of Denadorites to [[ItemCrafting craft some of the best equipment]]. |
| 616 | * PeninsulaOfPowerLeveling: The Bend in Time allows you to revisit old enemies. Useful for Sprigg's Morphs and leveling up Pip. |
| 617 | * PeopleJars: There's a scene where [[spoiler:Serge switches bodies with Lynx. This leads to a sequence where Serge-as-Lynx has to clone himself and take over that body. We see that body grow in a jar until, at Serge's exact age, the jar shatters.]] |
| 618 | * PerfectPoison: Lynx has poison-laced throwing daggers. One slice will knock you flat. |
| 619 | * PermanentlyMissableContent: A lot of stuff: characters, level 7 techs, and other things. It's actually impossible to gather the full party on your first go-around; you have to play the game ''three times'' on the same save file to get everyone... and even then, many things that are lost forever are ''huge'' GuideDangIt moments. |
| 620 | ** There are two points where making a choice that enables you to get some characters will result in you losing others: when making a plan for [[spoiler:sneaking into Viper Manor]] you get to choose one of three possible party members, and [[spoiler:after Kid is poisoned by Lynx]] there are two paths, one of which leads to three characters, the other of which leads to three ''different'' characters. There's a NewGamePlus option that makes up for this by letting you recruit ''every'' character from ''all'' playthroughs you've done on that file, but it only becomes available about halfway through the game. |
| 621 | ** Conversation options can lead to stuff being lost forever even if it's not clear that they're important at the time. Just using Leena as an example, giving the wrong responses to her questions in the beginning of the game will result in the loss of her level 7 tech, and agreeing to let Kid join the party after your first encounter with her will keep Leena from joining at all. |
| 622 | * ThePhilosopher: ''Tons'' of characters -- even random [=NPCs=]! |
| 623 | * PhlebotinumRebel: [[spoiler:Serge was accidentally made the "Arbiter" of FATE as a child, but ends up defeating FATE himself when the convoluted plot leads him there.]] |
| 624 | * PiggyBank: Van (from Home) has one of these. Adding money to it will increase the attack power of his special attack 'Piggyboink', in which he [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNGBooLizL0 sends it ramming into the enemy]]. |
| 625 | * PirateParrot: The pirate Fargo has a Polly...except it's a giant MONSTER bird that acts as a boss fight for your party! |
| 626 | * ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything: |
| 627 | ** Subverted with Another Fargo as he does lock you up when you first encounter him, but doesn't actually steal or do much afterwards. Home Fargo, despite not being a pirate, is more a criminal due to his rigged gambling. |
| 628 | ** Kid is supposedly a world-renowned thief. We never see her steal anything, though one of her techs steals an enemy's item (this might be getting into GameplayAndStorySegregation). |
| 629 | * PlaceBeyondTime: |
| 630 | ** The game, which mostly isn't about TimeTravel at all, nonetheless features the Dead Sea, a chunk of an alternate future stuck in temporal stasis, allowing you to walk around on a tsunami. The (B)end of Time itself returns as a secret area to house the {{Superboss}}. |
| 631 | ** The Darkness Beyond Time, meanwhile, is where paradoxical timelines are discarded, also, [[spoiler:the Dream/Time Devourer, a [[FusionDance merger of Lavos and Schala]], waits here to consume all time and space.]] |
| 632 | * PlantPerson: Funguy, [=NeoFio=] and Turnip. |
| 633 | * PlayerCharacterCalculus: There's a three-character party but a mind-boggling 40-something recruitable characters. It takes multiple playthroughs to unlock them all, some requiring mutually exclusive paths. |
| 634 | * PlayingCardMotifs: Sneff throws playing cards at his opponents, and two of his moves revolve around playing cards: Big Deal, in which he tosses an entire deck, and HP Shuffle, in which he shuffles the three numbers that make up his HP (091 might become 910, 901, 190, 109, 091 and 019). |
| 635 | * PlotCouponThatDoesSomething: |
| 636 | ** The save points play an almost identical role to those in ''Xenogears''. [[spoiler:That is, mind control.]] |
| 637 | ** The titular Chrono Cross is an element usable in battle to recharge other party members' elements for a second use. |
| 638 | *** In NewGamePlus you can also use it inbetween dimensions to summon previous party members from other timelines. |
| 639 | * PoirotSpeak: The game does this ''constantly'', and most conspicuously with Pierre and Harle, the two characters with GratuitousFrench accents. They even use the word ''moi'' for both 'I' and 'me'. This is because the text was actually in standard English, run through an "accent generator" that replaced particular words or word beginnings/endings with others. This allowed the localization team to just translate one line and alter it, rather than translating 44 of them. |
| 640 | * PokemonSpeak: The felines aboard the ''Zelbess'' can be understood fully once the party becomes cats themselves. They are seen harassing the ship's cook, who can't keep them out of the kitchen air ducts. |
| 641 | -->"Who gives a [[{{Smurfing}} meow]] about this guy's policy, meow." |
| 642 | * PoorPredictableRock: Appears when you [[FridgeLogic think too hard about it]]. All of the guards in Viper Manor except two of the top three are Yellow-innate. This is because they're (almost) all members of a small pool of "monsters" and "monsters" of the same type always have the same innate. However, they're all ''human'', and humans throughout the game have all sorts of different innates, so it really makes you question Viper's hiring policy. Even certain plot characters among his guard force (Solt, Peppor, Ketchop, and Zoah) are Yellow-innate for some reason. Viper himself is Yellow-innate! It's just begging for a task force trying to break in (say, Serge and Kid) to load up on Green elements and storm on in. Only Karsh, Marcy, and Glenn seem to get away from this trope at all. |
| 643 | * PostFinalBoss: The fight against the Lunar Dragon (somewhat inexplicably renamed the Time Devourer in the English localization) is an epic FinalBoss fight, spanning several locales and stages, and packing a lot of hard-hitting attacks and Elements. Afterwards there's the fight against the ''real'' Time Devourer (the [[spoiler:Lavos]] one), who doesn't hit nearly as hard, and who is defeated by [[PuzzleBoss playing a song]]. |
| 644 | * {{Postmodernism}}: Throughout the game the distinction between Serge and the player is repeatedly blurred, until in the good ending it is demolished entirely [[spoiler: where Kid is implied to have entered the "real world" and is searching for someone, who is further implied to ''be'' the player]]. |
| 645 | * PowerFloats: Masked magician Guile hovers serenely while the rest of the party is jogging. |
| 646 | * ThePowerOfRock: Nikki's main attack, and [[spoiler:the method of activating the Chrono Cross.]] Also, getting through to the Black Dragon involves having his band perform nearby. |
| 647 | * PreexistingEncounters: The game often gave the player the option to avoid fights if they wished. Sometimes, though, monsters jump out from out of nowhere and ambush the party in pre-determined locations, and other times they are visible but unavoidable. |
| 648 | * PreviousPlayerCharacterCameo: The game has you meet [[VideoGame/ChronoTrigger Crono, Marle, and Lucca]] midway through the game [[spoiler:as stand-ins for timelines destroyed by time travel-induced paradox]]. |
| 649 | * ProperLady: Riddel. |
| 650 | * PublicDomainArtifact: The Masamune returns, having been corrupted at some point between the games [[spoiler:since it was created with a piece of Lavos.]] After going on a quest, Masa and Mune's sister Doreen merges with them to transform the Masamune into the Mastermune, Serge's ultimate weapon. |
| 651 | * PunnyName: Some of the monsters suffer from this. (A red-elemental canine monster named [=HotDoggity=], anyone?) |
| 652 | * PuzzleBoss: The final boss could be defeated by force; however, this results in a [[BadEnd bad ending.]] Only by using spells of the six different elements in a specific order, ''then'' using a seventh, special element, could the boss be truly defeated. This proves to be quite difficult, because the boss's spells mess with the order, so you have to either hope that the boss uses elements that complement the sequence (which it starts doing once you have dealt enough damage), or have characters fast enough to complete the sequence without being interrupted (possible right at the start with the correct equipment). |
| 653 | ** The game also features the OptionalBoss Criosphinx. To defeat him, you have to respond to his riddles with an Element of the proper color. [[spoiler:The order of the colors to answer his riddles is the same order that is needed to activate the Chrono Cross to defeat the last boss. Of course, the game never directly tells you this, so it is still a massive GuideDangIt.]] You can defeat him with brute force, but it's not easy. |
| 654 | *** But it should be noted that simply casting the right spells isn't enough. You have to cause enough damage to kill him while playing his game. Otherwise, he runs at the end of the puzzle. If you cast the wrong spell, however, he will proceed to nuke you with high level earth spells until you are dead, which will happen VERY fast if you don't have the earth absorbing armor on. |
| 655 | * TheQueensLatin: The game translates different Japanese dialects into differently accented versions of English. One major character, Kid, speaks with an Australian accent. And it's all done [[FunetikAksent through text]] - the game has no voice acting. |
| 656 | * RagnarokProofing: While Chronopolis is at least ten thousand years old, it can be argued that its [[MasterComputer AI caretaker]] took precautions to keep it in working order. The same cannot be said for Terra Tower, which was sealed under the sea for that same amount of time and whose defense mechanisms (of a more {{organic|Technology}}, rather than electronic, form of technology) were up to the task when freed. |
| 657 | * RazorFloss: Marcy utilizes string-based attacks as her techs, for cutting, sending energy bursts through them and even shifting earth. |
| 658 | * ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Sprigg looks like an elderly woman, but considering she's 224, she looks rather good. |
| 659 | * RealWorldEpisode: Used in rather bizarre fashion in the good ending: after discussing the fact that the Chronoverse consists of infinite parallel realities, [[spoiler: Schala (or some alternate-dimension variant of her) is seen wandering the streets of a real-world city in her search for the amnesiac Serge - the implication being that our world is one more of the infinite potential realities, and that the player himself might be an alternate-world version of Serge]]. |
| 660 | * RecurringBoss: Lynx, who is fought five times: twice as Lynx and once each as [[spoiler:Serge (in Fort Dragonia), Dark Serge, and finally in his true form as FATE]]. |
| 661 | * RecurringLocation: |
| 662 | ** Viper Manor's round library. For some odd reason, Belthasar is a welcome guest in here, along with the [[spoiler:Neo-Epoch]] (which is squirreled away in a BookcasePassage). An [[EldritchLocation Eldritch]] version of the library appears in Terra Tower. |
| 663 | ** The grassy arena on Sky Dragon Isle plays host to several battles: The Sky Dragon, Starky's "Mega" form, and finally the Time Devourer itself. (The latter is fought on [[spoiler:Terra Tower's peak]], which turns out to have been [[spoiler:a sunken Sky Dragon Isle]] all along.) |
| 664 | * RecurringRiff: The thematic ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' theme is reused several times, as well as Lucca's victory fanfare theme. In addition, CC's theme for bustling Termina is reminiscent of Guardia's Millennial Fair in CT, and [[spoiler:the first ending theme contains parts of "Schala's Theme", which makes perfect sense.]] In addition, since CC started life as the game ''VisualNovel/RadicalDreamers'', many themes from the original Satelliview game are remixed for CC, including the main theme, the battle theme, "Frozen Flame", and "Star-Stealing Girl". |
| 665 | * RedemptionDemotion: The game has several examples, due to the incredibly huge number of characters you can recruit. Probably the biggest example is Grobyc. As a boss, he has thousands of hit points and attacks that can annihilate your entire party repeatedly. Afterwards, he has the usual 400 or so HP and can no longer use the oh-so-broken Vigora. |
| 666 | * RegionalBonus: The NA version contained additional dialogue to clarify background information and cover plot holes present in the Japanese version, as well as the addition of a trio of optional bosses from ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' who can be fought in NewGamePlus. |
| 667 | * RemixedLevel: Quite a few, obviously. Most are just duplicates of the same map, even Home World's Hydra Marsh, which is (confusingly) still a toxic wasteland even with the Hydra alive. Viper Manor was demolished in Home World, leaving only the sewer and prison intact. |
| 668 | * RequiredPartyMember: The game has this with Serge ([[spoiler:and later, Lynx, after Serge's body is swapped with Lynx's]]). He must be in the party for the entire game, and there's no way to remove him. Playing on a NewGamePlus, though, will earn you an item that allows you to switch Serge out for someone else in battle. |
| 669 | * RescueArc: ''The entire game'' is a RescueArc to save [[spoiler:Schala]], though it's only made clear in the very last part. Seeing her finally saved, many tender tears were shed. |
| 670 | * {{Retcon}}: [[spoiler:Schala was completely redesigned and looks nothing like her appearance in ''Chrono Trigger'' (where she's portrayed as a young adult with pale skin and cyan hair) with her now looking like her teenage clone Kid, who's a blond caucasian.]] |
| 671 | * RetGone: The ultimate ending of the game involves [[spoiler:using the power of the Chrono Cross on the Time Devourer -- the paradox-created remnant of Lavos, [[FusionDance fused]] with Schala -- in the Darkness Beyond Time. This forcibly ends the paradox in favor of Lavos having always been defeated once and for all by Crono and his friends in 1999, while freeing Schala at the same time]]. This basically makes it so that the BigBad ''never actually existed'', and everything that happened due to his influence is likewise undone as if it never happened. |
| 672 | * ReverseGrip: Kid. |
| 673 | * RewardingInactivity: There's a segment, while infiltrating an enemy base, where someone asks you for a password and a list of choices pops up. The correct answer is silence -- leave it alone for a few seconds and they'll let you in. |
| 674 | * RibcageRidge: Fossil Valley, one of the earliest places the player visits, has a gigantic dragon skeleton as part of the background. No live ones are ever encountered because the specific species of dragon is long extinct ([[spoiler:barring one egg that the player can hatch)]]. |
| 675 | * RiddlingSphinx: There's a Sphinx optional boss that you can beat through straight combat, or by correctly answering its riddles by hitting it with the proper color elements. The order of the answers to the riddles is the same as the order you need to use elements in the final battle to get the GoldenEnding... [[GuideDangIt not that there's any indication of this.]] |
| 676 | * RippleEffectIndicator: In 1020 A.D., Serge was rescued from his untimely demise on the shores of Opassa Beach, causing Home World to branch off from Another World. The blurring between the two worlds still exists at Opassa Beach; Belthasar dubbed the distortion ''Angelus Errare'' -- "Where Angels Lose Their Way." |
| 677 | * RockOfLimitlessWater: Before you can tackle Lynx at Fort Dragonia, you need to cross Mt. Pyre and for that, you need a trinket from the Water Dragon. This becomes a plot cul-dec-sac, but the upside is the ability to ''permanently'' freeze the magma flow within the volcano. (The downside? It cuts off all access to the treasure chests in Mt. Pyre, so if you want them, you gotta make a mad dash across molten lava.) |
| 678 | * TheRockStar: Nikki. One of his concerts is a plot event at one point in the game. |
| 679 | * RockersSmashGuitars: One of Nikki's Personal Techs has him smash his guitar over an enemy's head. |
| 680 | %%* RoyalRapier: Pierre. |
| 681 | * RuleOfCool: The opening shot of Serge using the [[spoiler:Mastermune]] in Termina that doesn't trigger in-game turns out to be just [[https://twitter.com/chronogame/status/1518220966492524545 this]]. |
| 682 | * RuleOfThree: Chronopolis's CloakingDevice is maintained by three adjacent islands, each guarded by a facsimile of [[spoiler:FATE]]'s face. When the Dead Sea is destroyed, ribbons of flame emerge from three triangular spots on the water. These spots correspond with the 3 islands in the mirror dimension. |
| 683 | * SadBattleMusic: "Prisoners of Fate" plays during the climax of the game's WhamEpisode in the Dead Sea. It culminates in a showdown against someone who ''really'' does not want to fight you, but will kick your ass seven ways to Sunday regardless. The same theme plays while fighting OptionalBoss Dario. |
| 684 | * SavePoint: The Save Points, known as Records of Fate, are actually part of the storyline since they are creations of FATE and in-world exist, supposedly, to provide every person in El Nido information (whether cryptic clues, outright visions, or advice and guidance) on what their fate is meant to be and how to shape their lives to achieve it. (The save point's out-of-world function is expressed by [=NPCs=] as enabling them to remember their pasts, or important moments from it.) [[spoiler:In actuality they go beyond this to outright MindControl by FATE; the implication is that this is also how she gained control of Wazuki to turn him into Lynx.]] |
| 685 | * SceneryCensor: The game gives you a good shot of Serge's naked body, including his butt, but with his arm covering his penis. |
| 686 | * SceneryPorn: This game has some of the most astonishing hand-painted backgrounds of the [=PlayStation=] era. |
| 687 | * SchizoTech: Contains, among other things: medieval dragoons, an early 20th-century army, an 18th-century pirate, a futuristic cyborg, a cave girl (who, admittedly, probably time traveled by accident to get to where you find her), robots from the distant future, and a modern rockstar. |
| 688 | * ScratchDamage: The game lets you hear the odd strike sound when a weak enemy hits your Rainbow Armored characters for that wonderful 0 damage. It still counts as a hit for disrupting your attacks and so on, but no damage is inflicted. |
| 689 | * ScunthorpeProblem: It could be difficult to ask for advice on beating [=SunOfAGun=] since its name contained 'fag' and was thus blocked on many a forum. Averted in ''The Radical Dreamers Edition'', where its name has been properly spaced out as "Sun of a Gun." |
| 690 | * SdrawkcabName: Grobyc, the assassin with a robotic arm. Grobyc is cyborg backwards. |
| 691 | * SecretLevel: The Bend in Time and Divine Dragon Falls are both unmarked on the overworld; you wouldn't know to enter unless you keep mashing X. |
| 692 | * SeekerArchetype: Guile is always in search of enigmas. [[spoiler:Even in his ending speech, he says that he will be searching for a new enigma.]] |
| 693 | * SequentialBoss: The game features the Dragon God/Fused Dragons who has ''seven'' different forms (though they all look the same): one form for each [[ElementalRockPaperScissors Elemental Color]] in the game, except White, which gets two forms. |
| 694 | * SequelHook: When Serge goes back in time to Lucca's [[spoiler:burning]] orphanage [[spoiler:to rescue Kid]], he finds a lot of notes and diary entries written by Lucca. She had spent a lot of time worrying about people from the future that she and her friends eliminated attempting to take vengeance, and so she'd come up with several different plans for dealing with that and was ready to put them into action on a moment's notice. [[spoiler:It's heavily implied that she escaped from Lynx and Harle, albeit so narrowly she left her glasses behind, and that she was now in a safe place preparing a counterattack.]] |
| 695 | * SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Guile (almost) always speaks like this. |
| 696 | ** The way he talks about finding a ferryman and a boat to get across the sea is rather wordy. |
| 697 | --->"What we need now is a seasoned sailor and a sturdy boat to cross the rough waters." |
| 698 | ** His speech about [[SeekerArchetype his 'thirst' for enigmas]] gets pretty long-winded. |
| 699 | --->"At the manor, I have learned that the world is full of enigma not yet beheld. Mysteries without tricks. Something beyond human perception... That is what I seek... I will continue to accompany you on your journey, in hopes that I will come in contact with such undiscovered enigmas..." |
| 700 | * SetBonus: Collecting a special set of equipment for Pierre turns him from JokeCharacter to LethalJokeCharacter. |
| 701 | * SetPiecePuzzle: The game contains a bunch of these, mainly in Fort Dragonia. |
| 702 | * SexyJester: Harle wears a mostly skintight outfit, and "pants" that cover her legs, but are completely transparent. |
| 703 | * TheShadowKnows: During the opening FMV, a wonderfully subtle bit of [[{{Pun}} Foreshadowing]] occurs when Serge at Fort Dragonia falls to his knees and clutches his head: [[spoiler:his shadow on the wall [[GrandTheftMe is briefly overlaid by, or turns into]], the silhouette of a cat]]. This becomes less subtle upon reaching the actual scene in the game, however, since not only will the player have already seen by that point [[spoiler:Serge's face morph into Lynx's in the Dragon Tear in Viper's study]], but the same scene from the FMV is accompanied by [[spoiler:the snarl of a big cat]]. |
| 704 | * ShapedLikeItself: The GoldfishPoopGang member Solt says things are "painfully painful", "obviously obvious", etc. |
| 705 | * ShiftingSandLand: Earth Dragon Isle. A fairly blasé and cute attraction; there is no dungeon, town or Dragon to fight here, only the Criosphynx once you've returned to Home World. |
| 706 | * ShooOutTheClowns: Solt and Peppor, the resident bumbling idiots, disappear from the plot post-Fort Dragonia when the plot starts to get much darker, and when you finally fight them again during an optional sidequest [[spoiler: they drop the antics and [[TookALevelInBadass become a real boss battle that can actually pose a threat to the party]]]]. |
| 707 | * ShoutOut: |
| 708 | ** A very subtle one, but not to ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'': the "Sea Swallow", the name of Serge's initial weapon, was also the codename of the character Irene Lew in the NES ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'' games, which the writer of the ''Chrono'' series had previously worked on. |
| 709 | ** One of the available window frames is the same one used in ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'' (which was developed by the same team). |
| 710 | ** Nikki is a ShoutOut trifecta, as mentioned on the character page. His name is Nikki (in the US version) after Nikki Sixx, bassist of Music/MotleyCrue, and Slash (in the Japanese version) after the Music/GunsNRoses guitarist. His makeup is a hybrid of [[Music/HidetoMatsumoto hide]]'s and Music/{{Kisaki}}'s, and his guitar is suspiciously similar to one of hide's most iconic guitars, the yellow hearts one. |
| 711 | ** Zappa = Music/FrankZappa |
| 712 | ** Starky's [[DubNameChange Japanese name]] is [[Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey Star Child]]. |
| 713 | ** The scene on the balcony of Viper Manor, wherein Lynx has Serge backed into a corner and is extending his hand to him only for Serge to choose to jump off the edge, is extremely reminiscent of Vader and Luke at Cloud City at the end of ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''; thanks to Serge being a SilentProtagonist it even includes the soundless fall, with the only thing missing being Lynx saying "WeCanRuleTogether". [[spoiler:[[LukeIAmYourFather Considering everything]], the parallel is appropriate.]] |
| 714 | ** The name of the location "Gaea's Navel" may be a reference to the [[SpellMyNameWithAnS similarly named]] "Gaia's Navel" from ''VideoGame/SecretOfMana'' (which itself may be a reference to the location "Gaia's Navel" from ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIII''). |
| 715 | * SilkHidingSteel: Lady Riddel. A sweet and elegant girl, daughter of General Viper, who is hands-down one of the strongest magic users in the game. |
| 716 | * SinisterScythe: Lynx. [[spoiler: Although when you switch bodies with him, outside of one battle, you use your swallow.]] |
| 717 | * SkippableBoss: It is possible to get the Black Dragon's relic without fighting him: just bring along a party of non-humans. Unfortunately, doing so means he'll never leave the area, and the player will never obtain a rare item required to forge Prism equipment (the best in the game). |
| 718 | * SlapOnTheWristNuke: One character's ultimate attack is the destruction of the entire universe. It does do a lot of damage, though, even compared to a giant Venus Fly Trap or a tidal wave. |
| 719 | * SlidingScaleOfFreeWillVsFate: The game is an absolutely free universe that's presented as a deterministic one thanks to an absurdly powerful supercomputer from the future. |
| 720 | * {{Smurfing}}: The cats on Fargo's ship, once you are transformed into a cat and can understand Cat, speak Japanese or English (depending on your translation), except they end almost every sentence and veil swears with "Meow." |
| 721 | * SolemnEndingTheme: The game ends with the exquisite ballad "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBE3c9X0BoA Radical Dreamers ~ The Jewel Unstolen]]". |
| 722 | * SoLongAndThanksForAllTheGear: |
| 723 | ** This is averted 99% of the time since all characters will always relinquish accessories back to you if they drop out from the group. However, only one of them takes the weapon and armor away forever (till you get a New Game +, that is): [[spoiler:Harle, right after the Acacian Dragoons join the team.]] |
| 724 | ** Also averted [[spoiler: when Lynx switches bodies with you. After the battle immediately following the switch, Serge-as-Lynx reacquires whatever you had equipped on him before, including his swallow (which he uses from then on instead of Lynx's scythe), when logically his gear should have all gone to Dark Serge.]] |
| 725 | * SongsInTheKeyOfLock: Each element has a unique tone when cast in battle. Playing [[spoiler: the Song of Life]] with these tones when fighting the FinalBoss will instantly win the battle and free [[spoiler: Schala from Lavos]]. This unlocks a better ending than the player would get by killing the boss. However, being able to pull it off successfully is hard because the boss can interrupt (or help) the melody with his own magic. |
| 726 | * SoundStone: The Frozen Flame has a 'good' counterpart in the Chrono Cross, which sings a melody capable of shattering the final boss. |
| 727 | * SpacetimeEater: The Time Devourer, [[spoiler:which is the remnants of Lavos, paradoxically both killed-and-not-killed by Crono and friends in 1999, and powered up by keeping Schala sealed inside itself.]] |
| 728 | * SpeciesLoyalty: Pervades the universe, with humans, mystics, demihumans, dwarves, and fairies each only looking out for their own. |
| 729 | * SpellLevels: The Elements system assigns each element a level from 1 to 8 indicating what area of a character's element grid they can occupy. Most elements also have a 'margin' that allows them to be equipped higher or lower than the intended level (with matching effect on its actual power). |
| 730 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: Seen with the ''soundtrack'' of all things; there are a lot of different translations floating around for the track titles. The best example is probably "The Dream That Time Dreams", aka "Watching the Dream of Time" and (more nonsensically, but ironically probably the most popular translation) "Time of the Dreamwatch". |
| 731 | * SpiritualSuccessor: The developers' original goal for ''Chrono Cross'', as it had been for ''Radical Dreamers'', was allegedly not so much to make a full-fledged sequel to ''Chrono Trigger'' as to make another game set in the same world, hence the immensely different style, tone, story and gameplay. Even after its release, the developers were adamant that ''Chrono Cross'' was not ''Chrono Trigger 2''. ''Chrono Cross'' itself got its own Spiritual Successor of sorts in ''VideoGame/BatenKaitos'', a game (with a sequel of its own) for the [[Platform/NintendoGameCube GameCube]] featuring some of the same developers, the same unique visual style of 3D character models set against a hand-drawn background (hand-drawn by the same person, no less), a vaguely similar battle system focusing on multi-hit combos and customizable move sets, and in the first game, the same writer. It's not exactly another ''Chrono'' game, but fans looking to recapture just a bit of that ''Chrono Cross'' feel are recommended to check them out. |
| 732 | * SplitTimelinesPlot: Serge is somehow brought into an alternate timeline where he died several years ago. The parallel world he comes from (Home World) and the one in which he died (Another World) both have to be traversed throughout the adventure (and, on numerous occasions, people or objects from one world are needed to resolve a problem in another, and sometimes the party needs both at once). The two worlds are very different in numerous ways, and there is a bit of conflicting information regarding exactly when the split occurred. Most sources state that it happened at the moment Serge drowned in his world, but an unseen future incarnation of the MacGuffinGirl came back in time to save him. Another source says that it occurred years earlier when Serge first made contact with the MacGuffinGirl four years before that. |
| 733 | * SpottingTheThread: A spoileriffic example: Kid doesn't realize that [[spoiler:Serge and Lynx have swapped bodies]] until [[spoiler: the suddenly talkative Serge]] mentions the name "Lucca", which up to this point hadn't been said by anybody. She can't really do anything about it, as before she realizes what really happened [[spoiler:she gets stabbed for her troubles.]] Also, seeing [[spoiler:[[HeroicMime Serge]] [[SuddenlyVoiced start to talk]]]] is usually a Spotting The Thread moment for the ''player.'' |
| 734 | * SprintShoes: The game has an interesting variation in the Time Shifter, which you receive automatically at the beginning of a NewGamePlus (or any new game in the remaster). If you hold down R2, it literally fast-forwards ''everything''- you, your enemies, dialogue, the environment, etc., both during and outside of battle (with the exception of pre-rendered cutscenes and, thankfully, the background music). It can also slow everything down in a similar manner, which is the easiest method of completing the feeding mini-game's hardest difficulty. |
| 735 | %%* SpritePolygonMix |
| 736 | %%* SquashedFlat: Happens to the enemies (Or your party) when the summon Golem is cast. |
| 737 | * StandardJapaneseFantasySetting: Compared to its predecessor, ''Cross'' furthers this by introducing more fantastic creatures like dwarves, fairies and mermaids, an expansionistic empire, a holy order of knights, and a corrupt false religion. The only thing the setting truly lacks are actual gods of any kind; [[spoiler:it's later revealed that the "Dragon Gods" worshipped by demihumans are actually malevolent creations made by the BigBad. The entity "FATE" worshipped by humans is actually a supercomputer from the far future seeking absolute control to ensure its own existence, and the aforementioned BigBad is an [[FantasyAliens alien parasite]] that has been manipulating human society since prehistoric times to provide itself with sustenance.]] |
| 738 | * StarCrossedLovers: Serge and Kid, though the ending leaves it ambiguous whether, in some time period or reality, they will eventually be together. |
| 739 | * StatusEffects: The game has a bit of a mixture of typical and more quirky status effects, as listed below: |
| 740 | ** Cursed: A cursed character takes stamina damage along with regular damage. |
| 741 | ** Silenced: There's element-specific silencing; the Anti- elements will prevent one character from using that color element until battle ends or the status is removed, and there's one type of element that can seal all elements. |
| 742 | ** Meta-effect: The Flu status will mess up your controls while on the field. |
| 743 | ** Other: Fatigue, which has a ''massive'' impact on stamina; regeneration is slowed and attacks take more stamina. Thankfully, it's very rarely seen; it's probably the most dangerous status ailment if you don't have a Purify or [=WhiteOut=] element allocated. |
| 744 | * SteppingOutForAQuickCupOfCoffee: Nikki's personal storyline involves his desire to learn a song that will make the monsters haunting Marbule tangible, so that they can be destroyed. The only person who knows this song is Marbule's Sage, who is now a janitor on a cruise ship. The Sage initially refuses to teach it to Nikki, but (after Nikki proves he honestly wants to help) declares he has to sweep the upper decks... "while I hum myself a tune". |
| 745 | * StopPokingMe: There's a secret item early in the game: if you keep trying to open the chest in Karsh's room while he's present, he tells you to leave it alone and counts how many times you attempt it until he finally gives up after 20 attempts, allowing you to have the Dragoon Gauntlet inside instead of having to wait later in the game. |
| 746 | * StormingTheCastle: Viper Manor and, later, the Terra Tower. |
| 747 | * StorybookOpening: The game's opening FMV begins with a diary on a desk lit by oil lamp, which opens before a philosophical narration on the backstory and themes the player is about to encounter appears as onscreen text. The implication then follows that the rest of the story is one told within the pages of the diary, though they don't actually animate into game scenes. [[spoiler:In the final FMV scene of the GoldenEnding, the diary and its text [[BookEnds reappear]] to finish reflecting on the tale and speak of the author intending to travel until they find Serge again, before revealing she was Kid/Schala all along. Then the diary closes and the camera pans back enough to reveal a previously hidden photo of her and Serge, which just might be a wedding photo.]] |
| 748 | * StoryBranchFavoritism: The game's story branches at two points -- you can pick one of three options for a guide to Viper Manor, and you can declare that ''of course'' you'll [[spoiler:save Kid from Lynx's poison]] or else confess that you don't know ''how''. |
| 749 | ** In the first case, Nikki's route through the Shadow Forest is the longest and most developed, including an entire dungeon (including boss battle with Zoah, who you won't meet until later otherwise). In contrast, Guile's route has a brief climb up Viper Manor's seaside cliffs, while Pierre's route consists entirely of a boss battle and nothing else. |
| 750 | ** The second case is more complicated. Announcing that you'll handle the problem leads to a dungeon that you don't get to play otherwise and provides additional build-up to a sidequest later in the game, but saying you're not sure allows you to recruit a highly plot-relevant character, and you will see a bonus cutscene between Kid and Serge after getting the Ice Breath from the Water Dragon. |
| 751 | * StoryBranching: There are three ways to sneak into Viper Manor early in the game, depending on which character the player asks for assistance. Each route progresses through a different area and gives the player a different party member in the process. Afterwards, another branch happens when you decide to [[spoiler:save Kid after she's poisoned by Lynx, no matter what]] or [[spoiler:admit that saving her seems impossible]]. Again, the choice you make will determine which of two trios of characters you'll be able to recruit, as well as what you'll be doing for the next section of the game. |
| 752 | * StrangerInAFamiliarLand: An odd example. The hero gets sucked into an alternate dimension where he died as a child and everything's different...except that the next 20 hours of the game are in Another World and it takes that long to gain the ability to return to Home World. The player never really gets the opportunity to explore Home until then. Serge is a HeroicMime, so we don't know his thoughts on this, but meta-wise this trope is in force for the player as Home World will feel more alien than Another World by that point, particularly how [[spoiler:Porre has conquered Termina, and all of Viper's knights are missing in action, later seen to have been killed in the Dead Sea]]. |
| 753 | ** Played straight for Serge himself, as you only really get to explore the world beyond the south side of your home island [[spoiler:after Lynx has performed a FreakyFridayFlip on you. When you return to Serge's homeworld village, everyone there sees him as Lynx, the beastman who has been terrorizing them.]] |
| 754 | * SuddenlyVoiced: Happens to Serge. Justified in that [[spoiler: when it happened Lynx had traded bodies with Serge, and it's actually Lynx talking, not Serge. Even so, Serge's party members don't seem to catch on that he's suddenly very talkative...]] |
| 755 | * SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: |
| 756 | ** [[spoiler:Lucca is killed by Lynx years before the game begins. This sets Kid, Lucca's adopted daughter, on a path of revenge against Lynx.]] |
| 757 | ** [[spoiler:Robo]], who became the [[spoiler:Prometheus Lock keeping the FATE supercomputer in check]], is "killed" near the end of the game, unless it was [[spoiler:a copy of his programming rather than his actual "self"]]. |
| 758 | ** It is ambiguous in regards to [[spoiler:Crono and Marle's fates. It is known that Porre conquered Guardia at some point before the game begins, and what are apparently the ghosts of Crono, Marle, and Lucca appear to Serge at a few points throughout the game, but they also appear to be children, making it ambiguous about what they exactly are.]] |
| 759 | ** Even the [[MascotMook mascots]] aren't safe! Johnny's mangled corpse is strewn on an interstate in the Dead Sea, and the singing robot Gato is about to fatally short out when Serge travels back in time to Lucca's orphanage. |
| 760 | * SuddenSequelHeelSyndrome: In ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'', the Masamune is a holy sword that OnlyTheChosenMayWield (with its true power unlocked, at least). In ''Chrono Cross'', Masamune has become an EvilWeapon whose evilness is so powerful that its mere ''presence'' acts as a barrier, its evil aura preventing the heroes from approaching it. This change is said to have been caused by it being stolen and used in a variety of atrocities over the years. At first you need the [[LegendaryWeapon Einlanzer]] to counter it, and eventually you get an opportunity to [[BeatTheCurseOutOfHim beat the evil out of it]]. |
| 761 | * SultryBellyDancer: Mikki. |
| 762 | * SummonMagic: The Summon Elements are useful not only for sheer damage, but because killing enemies with them makes them drop Shiny materials, needed for ItemCrafting the game's strongest weapons. Sadly, [[AwesomeButImpractical they're loaded with drawbacks]]: you need to have the entire field in their color (which means if you're interrupted after casting All(X Color), you have to start over) and you can only cast so many at a time. |
| 763 | * {{Superdickery}}: The game starts with a dream sequence in which we see [[HeroicMime the protagonist, Serge]], killing one of his friends. [[spoiler:Later in the game, we get to see the scene come true, but it turns out that one of the villains had managed to switch bodies with Serge. The victim doesn't die either, she just gets wounded badly.]] |
| 764 | * SuperStrongChild: Leah is one of the youngest characters but also the physically strongest. She wields an axe and throws big rocks single handly. |
| 765 | * SuperWindowJump: Serge [[spoiler:in Lynx form]] and co. smash through another stained glass window to escape a NighInvulnerable robot. |
| 766 | * SurferDude: Doc certainly talks this way, [[OohMeAccentsSlipping at least some of the time]]. |
| 767 | * SurprisinglyCreepyMoment: When you first go to the island where the White Dragon lives, there is a staircase you climb where the sides are covered with plants and bushes. [[spoiler:When you return to that staircase when the island has risen out of the sea to become Terra Tower, the plants are gone, revealing many giant heads that are impaled with spikes and look in pain, with voices calling out to you to kill them and end their misery.]] |
| 768 | * SurprisinglyHappyEnding: The game throws a ''lot'' of dark themes at you. From the unanticipated effects of time travel (causing paradoxes, even to prevent a BadFuture, results in an entire timeline -- and the untold number of lives that are part of it -- being erased and sent to TheNothingAfterDeath) to the nature of destiny (everything the protagonist does seems to be preordained as part of [[UnwittingPawn someone else's plan]], and even defeating the apparent [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]] turns out to be the result of ''another'' [[OutGambitted layer of plans]], all constructed by people with [[RetroactivePrecognition knowledge of the future]]). Even the BigBad from ''[[VideoGame/ChronoTrigger the previous game]]'' is back, and now ''[[OmnicidalManiac reality itself]]'' is threatened... But despite all of that, after a handful of {{Boss Battle}}s, we're pretty much told that everything turns out alright in the end. Which is a good thing, because without that reassurance, [[GainaxEnding we'd probably still be confused]]. |
| 769 | * SurveillanceAsThePlotDemands: The game combines this with one of the most brilliant aversions of GameplayAndStorySegregation to date when we find out that the [[spoiler:save points]] also acted as [[spoiler:subtle mind-control devices for FATE]]. |
| 770 | * SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: More than a few, as may be expected of a game with so many characters. |
| 771 | ** Glenn, a young greenish-grey-haired knight named for and modeled after the human form of Frog from ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger''. Like his namesake, he emerges from obscurity, claims a legendary sword, and generally kicks ass and takes names. He can even initiate Frog's ''X-Strike'' [[CombinationAttack Dual Tech]] with Serge. |
| 772 | *** Turnip is also based on Frog, even speaking like he did in the original game. |
| 773 | ** Guile is a complicated case. Based on Magil from ''VisualNovel/RadicalDreamers'', who turns out to be [[spoiler:Magus from ''Chrono Trigger'' keeping an eye on his sister]], that part of Guile's backstory was dropped during development but the Expy-ness remained. Then the DS remake of Chrono Trigger suggests that Guile is [[spoiler:an amnesiatic, alternate dimension Magus]]. WordOfGod states that Guile is [[spoiler:neither Magil nor Magus]], bringing us full circle. [[spoiler: Masato Kato confirmed in an interview that Guile was initially meant to be Magus.]] |
| 774 | *** [[spoiler: Now in 2022, a new post credits text crawl in the Radical Dreamers edition seems to once again heavily suggest that Guile is indeed Magus. Guile has also had his character model and art changed in subtle ways to make his facial features more in line with Magus. The question of "is he?" is more or less a ShrugOfGod at this point.]] |
| 775 | ** Leah is also a substitute of Ayla. Beating the game with Leah in your party implies [[spoiler:that she is actually Ayla's ''mother'']]. Yay for time travel? |
| 776 | * SwampsAreEvil: The Hydra Marshes are hazardous. Just stepping into the water without proper gear will hurt you. |
| 777 | * SwirlyEnergyThingy: On the OverworldNotToScale, a perpetual hurricane obscures the player's view of The Dead Sea. |
| 778 | * TailfinWalking: Averted - mermaids don't walk while on land, they hover. (You can see some "magic sparkles" around Irenes's tail when she's moving.) |
| 779 | * TakeOurWordForIt: Long before you ever get to the sidequest pertaining to it, you are told by Nikki that he is seeking the ultimate song, which the Sage of Marbule later describes to you as an amazing, powerful, magical song that can save Marbule and restore it to the demi-humans. When you finally recruit Irenes later and she enables you, through Fargo, to help Nikki learn and then perform the song, you'd be forgiven for thinking (despite all the build-up) that the song will just be performed off-screen, because no song could really be that good and it'd be better to leave it to the imagination, right? No, the song is played, complete with a long in-game scene...and it's just as [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic awesome and inspiring]] as you were told it was. Enough so that [[BGMOverride it plays continuously through the battles that follow]]. |
| 780 | * TalkingIsAFreeAction: The enemies are refusing to attack since they're the ones giving the rules and game information; the heroes just stand there and listen [[HeKnowsAboutTimedHits because it's helpful!]] |
| 781 | * ATasteOfPower: The game begins with a dream sequence with Serge, Kid and one randomly selected character, at a somewhat elevated level and powers. This opening dungeon has everyone armed with Mythril/Silver weapons and a few hundred HP. Once it's over, you're back to bone weapons and a few dozen HP, as well as much fewer element levels. |
| 782 | * TeamPet: The first recruitable character in the game is the Team Pet Poshul, a pink, unnervingly cutesy talking dog. |
| 783 | * TechnicolorBlade: Rainbow weapons. |
| 784 | * TechnoWreckage: The Tower of Gheddon is an amalgamation of fused buildings, including a shopping mall and a theater. |
| 785 | * TemporalParadox: The game is a particularly confused case, involving as it does four, maybe five different factions manipulating an UnwittingPawn across two dimensions. The Chronopolis research facility attempted a time experiment that ended in a TimeCrash, hurling it back in time about fourteen thousand years and forcing it to carefully manage history to avoid any paradox that would prevent its future existence. Then someone meddled in a [[ForWantOfANail pivotal event]] and split the timeline in two, so that in one dimension Chronopolis still exists, while in the other a [[TimeStandsStill time-frozen]] slice of ''Chrono Trigger''[='s=] BadFuture has come to fill the void. Also, this may unleash a force that could destroy all of existence. |
| 786 | * TenThousandYears: You learn at Chronopolis that [[spoiler:the El Nido triangle]] was created out of open sea by researchers 10,000 years ago. |
| 787 | * TestosteronePoisoning: Zoah, a hulking dragoon whose [[ShirtlessScene lack of shirt]] and [[FanService fluidly animated muscles]], combined with [[NoIndoorVoice SPEAKING IN ALL CAPS]] at all times (even while ''[[CatchingSomeZs sleeping]]''), takes manly to the level of parody. |
| 788 | * ThemeNaming: ThoseTwoGuys, the inept Solt and Peppor... who are joined by a one-time boss (and much more serious threat) named Ketchop in the path where you choose Pierre to lead you through the Viper Manor gates. |
| 789 | * ThinkNothingOfIt: When Kid thanks Korcha for his help and gets an "It was nothing" response, she replies "Hmph. Thanks for nothing then." |
| 790 | * TimeCrash: The TropeNamer. The Dead Sea is the site of a Time Crash, due to an experiment that involved mucking with time travel GoneHorriblyRight. |
| 791 | * TimeStandsStill: One of the most chilling things about the Dead Sea. The party finds themselves in a ''world'' frozen in time, midway through its destruction by a GiantWallOfWateryDoom. |
| 792 | * TitleDrop: Similar to the previous game, the game's title refers to a holy artifact that factors into the plot very late in the game's story, and while technically optional is highly suggested to obtain in order to get the "[[MultipleEndings good]]" ending. |
| 793 | * TomboyAndGirlyGirl: While the game has way more than two female characters, the two potential love interests for Serge are Kid (a tomboy) and Leena (girly-girl). |
| 794 | * {{Tomorrowland}}: The Dead Sea is a fragment of alt-1999 A.D., and Chronopolis is supposed to have originated in the year 2300. (Just [[NewspaperDating look at the plaque!]]) |
| 795 | * TooDumbToLive: Solt, Solt, Solt. Shows up for a fight without any Elements, mistakes a [=TurnBlack=] element for an attack element, screws up a summon, and when Peppor takes matters into his own hands and shows up with [=BlackHole=], Solt manages to screw ''that'' up. When Ketchop is with them, he [[OneHitKO one-shots]] Serge [[CutscenePowerToTheMax in a scripted battle event]]. Solt revives Serge. |
| 796 | * TragicMonster: [[spoiler:Lynx]]. [[spoiler:Originally the hero's father, Wazuki, he came in contact with FATE at the same time his son was healed by and genetically bonded with the Frozen Flame. This, combined with how close he came to seeing his son die while he was helpless to prevent it, broke down his willpower enough to allow FATE access to his heart and mind, until she was able to eventually corrupt him completely, turning him into her human incarnation and reshaping him to look like a demi-human via the DNA of the very panther demon that had tried to kill Serge.]] By the time of the game's events, absolutely no trace of his former self or personality is left--not only is he a complete and irredeemable villain, he initiates [[spoiler:a GrandTheftMe to possess his own son's body]]. And in a twisted irony, [[spoiler:the man who had been so determined to save his son's life he was willing to risk the creepy robot-manned city from the future ended up being the one who drowned him in Another World]]. You have to kill him, of course [[spoiler:as FATE]], never knowing who he was until an eleventh-hour {{Reveal}} after the fact. |
| 797 | * TrainingBoss: Early on, before Serge goes to seek out kobodo scales for Leena's necklace, Chief Radius instructs him on how to fight, both in the types of attacks (low, medium, high) and when it's best to use them, and in Element use. Not only does this fit his role in-world (as the village chief charged with protecting his people, including by training them in how to protect themselves, and as a former Acacia Dragoon), it comes back when you return to Arni [[spoiler:as Lynx]], when fighting you again convinces him of the truth of your story, so he will join your party. |
| 798 | * TrippyFinaleSyndrome: Kid is still wandering throughout space-time, looking for Serge. [[spoiler:Her search has brought her to modern day Tokyo]]. |
| 799 | * TriumphantReprise: |
| 800 | ** The game uses "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD4MWc4e56c Triumph ~ The Gift of Spring]]" for its victory fanfare. That's just for normal enemies, though, if you beat a boss (or recruit someone for your private army) you get a brassy remix, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M58LvB3Yv6c Victory ~ Call of Summer]]." ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' fans will immediately recognize either version as a Triumphant Reprise of Lucca's {{leitmotif}}. |
| 801 | ** One of your first encounters with the young knight Glenn is at [[WeaponTombstone his father and older brother's grave]], where a somber little piece named "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akBLicKODFE Leaving the Body]]" plays. At later parts in the game, though, the same melody is revived as "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuwK6vn6lBA Dragon Rider]]" whenever a Dragoon is doing something awesome - such as Glenn returning to that grave to [[TakeUpMySword inherit the Einlanzer]]. |
| 802 | * TronLines: Present in Chronopolis's architecture. |
| 803 | * TurnUndead: The spell [=HolyLight=] -- already powerful -- automatically kills undead enemies. |
| 804 | [[/folder]] |
| 805 | |
| 806 | [[folder:U - Y]] |
| 807 | * UltimateBlacksmith: The game had two alternate universe versions of their ultimate blacksmith, Zappa, one of whom can join your party. If you bring playable-Zappa to talk with NPC-Zappa, they'll combine forces and figure out how to forge the rainbow shell into powerful weapons, most of which are [[InfinityPlusOneSword infinity-plus-one swords]]. |
| 808 | * UncommonTime: The soundtrack frequently experiments in polyrhythm and unusual meter - "Viper Manor" is in 5/8 and 7/8 time, for instance. The most cited example is the game's love-it-or-hate-it main battle theme, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRkqWdE_Nd0&feature=related "Gale"]] - a polyrhythm of 9/8, 3/4, 4/4, and 5/4 times. |
| 809 | * UnderratedAndOverleveled: Present despite the lack of [[CharacterLevel character levels]]. All characters join with stats appropriate to the point in the game you recruit them, meaning that late-joiners such as Orcha the Viper Manor chef will start with higher stats than characters who join earlier but should logically be much stronger, like the Four Devas of the Acacian Dragoons. |
| 810 | * UnexplainedAccent: Justified with so many accents on display, but Kid's [[LandDownUnder Aussie]] twang is somewhat baffling. |
| 811 | * UngratefulBastard: The fairies. After saving them all from certain death by rampaging dwarves, they yell at you for happening to be humans. The dwarves blamed the humans for killing their marsh, but instead of going after them, they went after their fellow demi-humans the fairies. Yet Serge's party is the one who takes the blame, even for killing the dwarves who were attacking! |
| 812 | * UnholyHolySword: The Masamune. In ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'', the Masamune was described as a blade which only a true hero could wield and the only one which could harm the "fiend lord" Magus; having been forged from Dreamstone, it was also the only item which could damage the Mammon Machine/harm Lavos. In this game, however, having been corrupted by either ambition or jealousy [[spoiler:(Radius' vs. Garai, Dario's vs. Karsh)]], its guardian spirits have been "put to sleep" and it is filled with dark power that makes it safe for Lynx to wield so he can place it a choke point blocking the hero's path. The holy sword Einlanzer is all that allows Serge and his party past it. Later, an optional side quest allows the player to purify the Masamune (and its wielder) so as to join it with his swallow and obtain one of his two greatest weapons in the game. |
| 813 | %%* UnholyNuke: Blackhole. |
| 814 | * {{Unicorn}}: The game features a rare Unicorn summon that increases the party's Magic Defense. |
| 815 | * UniversalPoison: Poison takes off 1 HP for every stamina point an ally or enemy uses. Similarly to Robo in ''Chrono Trigger'', Mojo (a voodoo doll), Grobyc ([[SdrawkcabName a cyborg]]), Skelly (a skeleton), and several plant people can be poisoned as easily as everyone else. |
| 816 | * UnluckyChildhoodFriend: Leena. She is the childhood friend, the first girl, and they are most definitely dating, but then Serge meets Kid and Leena is forgotten about. The poor lass even has the game's fortune teller bluntly inform her (well, her alternate-dimension counterpart, at least) that she's not getting a boyfriend for some time. Ouch. Whether she actually ends up with Serge or not depends on which ending you get. |
| 817 | * UnreliableNarrator: The mural in Fort Dragonia claims that humans evolved from apes because of Lavos' interference in evolution after it fell to Earth. However, in ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' there were already humans around well before Lavos showed up, they just didn't have the ability to use magic. Possibly justified by the Dragonians being descended from the Reptites in an alternate timeline, which could explain why they'd hold a grudge against humans, although the game itself never addresses the retcon. |
| 818 | * UnusuallyUninterestingSight: You can recruit a pink dog that [[SpeechImpairedAnimal sounds like Elmer Fudd]], a famous glam rocker, a famous pop star, a skeleton clown, a plant baby, a turnip boy, a voodoo doll with a three-foot iron nail through its chest, a psychic luchador priest, a baby dragon[[note]]a species that is almost extinct and worshiped as gods[[/note]], a pirate, a human/mushroom hybrid, the ruler of the archipelago, the daughter of the ruler of the archipelago, the top three generals in the army of the ruler of the archipelago, a two foot tall space alien in a spacesuit, a member of the invading army in full military gear, and whatever [[{{Mon}} Pip]] is. Few NPC's if any will bat an eye. The LetsPlay/TheDarkId's LetsPlay sums it up nicely by asking "How many other times can you use the phrase ''"so then a luchador clotheslined the pirate in the throat for the win"'' and be completely serious?" |
| 819 | * UnwittingPawn: Serge just keeps ''falling'' for it. Fortunately for him, the ultimate [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]] in the game, [[spoiler:Belthasar]], is a good guy, so everything works out in the end... assuming you defeat the last boss the [[GuideDangIt right way]]. |
| 820 | * UselessUsefulSpell: The game features 'sealing' elements, which shut off elements of a specific color. This will seem ridiculously useful, until you realize that these are only worth using against bosses, which are usually completely immune to sealing. Even more so for [=SealAll=], which shuts off ''all'' elements on the battlefield; however, using it in a boss fight tends to result in it missing the boss [[HoistByHisOwnPetard but leaving your party sealed]]. There's a boss battle that exploits it's immunity with [=SealAll=] and can get you offguard if you're not using an accessory that gives you immunity to a specific element color seal. |
| 821 | * VancianMagic: The Element Grid. Each character has a set number of rows and columns in which "elements" can be set. Each element can only be used once per battle (except for "consumable" elements, which act like items do in other {{RPG}}s). And even consumable elements have a limit of five uses per slot. |
| 822 | * VanityIsFeminine: Pierre is first met admiring himself in the mirror, and joins your party stating they will be the thorns decorating his lovely rose. He turns out to be MilesGloriosus; a phony and all but useless in combat. However, if you get him a complete set of 'Hero' equipment, he becomes AgentPeacock. This only works for him. |
| 823 | * VerbalTic: A large number of characters, thanks to the game's accent-filter dialogue. |
| 824 | * TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon: Terra Tower. Another floating edifice, constructed by the now extinct Dragonians, risen by the power of the Dragon God, and inhabited by the embodiment of the forces of nature as well as the already mentioned Dragon God. |
| 825 | * VictoryGuidedAmnesia: With the Dream Devourer defeated, the dimensions merge back together and time is rebooted to the opening sequence of the game. [[spoiler:Serge is shown to remember the events of the game, but it's ambiguous if anyone ''else'' does.]] |
| 826 | * VideoGamesAndFate: Serge spends most of the game being manipulated by others, including via the {{Save Point}}s themselves (the NowWhereWasIGoingAgain message is supposedly generated by them), suggesting that everything is predestined and free will is an illusion. Then you break into the dungeon where Fate (the "goddess of destiny") lives and stab her to death. Seriously, it's a BossBattle and everything. It's hard to get more ScrewDestiny than that. |
| 827 | * UnderTheSea: El Nido Triangle is a sunken, colorful coral reef which holds a crashed flying saucer. |
| 828 | * VideoGameStealing: Three characters (Kid, Fargo, and Mel) are capable of stealing items. To avoid abuse from the "can always run from enemy" system, running will cause you to drop the item. A bit annoyingly, you can only use steal once per battle (like all other techs), even if you can simply run from battle to reset your chances if you miss. |
| 829 | * VillainBeatingArtifact: You can kill the Time Devourer just using force, but using that method, it's able to come back ([[spoiler:by eating alternate versions of Lavos]]). The only way to kill it permanently is using the Chrono Cross ([[spoiler:which interweaves timelines together extracting Schala from the Time Devourer and erasing any alternate Lavos from which it can feed on]]). |
| 830 | ** Of course [[spoiler:the scene pans away from the Time Devourer to Schala and Serge once Schala is free since it's no longer a threat thus leaving the now powerless Time Devourer stuck in the Darkness Beyond Time.]] |
| 831 | * VillainousHarlequin: The appropriately named Harle. However, she's far more of an EnigmaticMinion than an [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain ineffectual villain]]. [[spoiler:And being a villain or not doesn't really seem to be under her control.]] |
| 832 | %%* VillainShoes: Entirely justified [[spoiler:because you switch bodies with Lynx]]. |
| 833 | * VillainsOutShopping: One of the MultipleEndings is like this, showing Harle, [[spoiler:Dark Serge]], and Kid stopping in at the bar in Termina to have a drinking session, with a great deal of [[WeAreStrugglingTogether cattiness]], snarking, and self-deprecation going on. |
| 834 | * ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption: Averted twice. In two battles (one the final boss, the other a bonus mission), it is possible to defeat the enemy by main force but more rewarding if a non-violent method is used. |
| 835 | * VisualKei: One of the characters you can pick up in your journey (and one that is arguably fairly plot-important) is Nikki, a Visual Kei bandleader and guitarist who is equal parts shoutout to [[Music/HidetoMatsumoto hide]] (he's a redhead with eye makeup very much like hide's, and plays a yellow heart guitar) and Nikki Sixx from Music/MotleyCrue. In the Japanese version he was named Slash instead of Nikki, which made him a shoutout to the Music/GunsNRoses guitarist and to hide. |
| 836 | * WaitingPuzzle: At one point, while you are infiltrating Viper Manor, a guard asks for a password and a dialog box pops up with a few plausible-sounding choices. The ''correct'', choice, however, is to not pick any of the options and just wait a few seconds instead, as the correct password is silence. |
| 837 | * WakeUpCallBoss: |
| 838 | ** The first visit to Viper Manor has two fairly rough battles: Marcy and Lynx. Both are easily capable of handing the player's head on a silver platter with heavy-hitting attacks. It also serves to teach the player that the bosses can and ''will'' take advantage of the damage boost of the elemental terrain. |
| 839 | ** The bosses of Fort Dragonia are no joke. While most of previous bosses were fairly easy, if you haven't learned the battle system and how to build a proper element grid one or another will eventually murder your party with high level elements and dangerous combination of techs among other tricks. It's still possible to brute force your victories, but Fort Dragonia shows that the game is finally and completely done pulling punches and holding your hand. |
| 840 | ** Son of a Gun. If you didn't take the one guy with a powerful Black element, the odds of you doing more than 10 damage at once are minimal. (He only has 300 HP max, thank the Entity.) |
| 841 | * WalkingShirtlessScene: ZOAH, in an almost LeatherMan way. |
| 842 | * WarmupBoss: Mama Komodo. Incidentally, you've just finished killing all of her babies, and she's pretty steamed. Her DeathCryEcho is rather piteous, too, making this something of an instance of YouBastard. |
| 843 | * WeaponsOfTheirTrade: Zappa the smith can swing a hammer. Getting a certain hammer is also required to craft any character's InfinityPlusOneSword or armour. |
| 844 | * WeaponTombstone: Both Dario and his father Garai's graves (in their respective dimensions) are marked with the Einlanzer, a sword they both used. While Garai's Einlanzer is obtained through the course of the game no matter what, Glenn can retrieve Dario's after some CharacterDevelopment and use them [[DualWielding simultaneously]]. |
| 845 | * WeirdMoon: Viper Manor's suspension bridge is overshadowed by two of these babies. |
| 846 | * WelcomeToCorneria: One of the [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Devas]] will chastise you for [[KleptomaniacHero searching his personal treasure]] while he's in the same room. After the fourth time, he will reply "That's the Xth time you've looked at my treasure." Upon your '''20th''' attempt, he'll finally give up and let you have it if it means you'll leave him alone. |
| 847 | ** The pot and barrel in the Arni restaurant ''insist'' they are a pot and barrel upon inspection. Only after the third inspection will they unwillingly hand over their contents. |
| 848 | ** Also, on the S.S. Invincible during the Ghost Ship attack, one of the pirates tells you something, then, if you talk to him again, says "You wanna hear it again?" before repeating himself. He adds this line every time after the first, making it [[LampshadeHanging a lampshade hung]] [[IncrediblyLamePun straight]]. |
| 849 | * WetwareBody: [[spoiler:Lynx]] turns out to be the host of [[spoiler:the FATE computer system which has been manipulating the islands for thousands of years.]] |
| 850 | * WhamEpisode: Fort Dragonia; appropriate, as a DiscOneFinalDungeon. Dead Sea and Chronopolis (both the same place in different worlds) are another example. |
| 851 | * WhamLine: "Yes...I'm fine..." [[spoiler: Not so much the line itself, but the fact that it's ''[[HeroicMime Serge]]'' who says it. Naturally, it quickly becomes clear that something is ''very'' wrong.]] |
| 852 | ** When the Six Dragons (who have each given Serge their divine protection) sense that FATE has been killed, their lines suddenly take a dark turn. |
| 853 | --->'''Earth Dragon:''' Now...For mankind...\ |
| 854 | '''Black Dragon:''' [[OhCrap I shall make you bleed!!!]] |
| 855 | * WhatDidYouExpectWhenYouNamedIt: As if it wasn't bad enough to choose to base her design and programming off of the maniacal, human-destroying Mother Brain from the BadFuture, for some reason Belthasar and Lucca chose to name the supercomputer in charge of protecting the future and preventing the Day of Lavos from ever happening...FATE. Once thrown into the past by the Time Crash, she initially continues to follow her programming, ensuring the people of El Nido (descendants of Chronopolis' workers) did not interfere with the Zenan mainland and thus change the future...but then through the Records she sets herself up as a goddess, manipulates and experiments upon the people so as to understand life (and eventually become a new sentient lifeform), and once cut off from the Frozen Flame decides as a goddess [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans she is justified in doing anything to regain its power and carry out her mission]]. |
| 856 | * WhatTheHellHero: Kid's been fatally poisoned, and Doc tells Serge there's a means to treat her - but you can avert ButThouMust and ''refuse'' to help her by mostly saying you don't think you can do it. The result is Korcha giving Serge a thorough chewing out over the matter, but the plot moves on to a different scenario for the next part instead. [[spoiler: Kid recovers through different means anyway, and doing this is necessary to getting Glenn.]] |
| 857 | * WhereItAllBegan: After completing TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon, the portal to the final boss opens up on Opassa Beach, which is just off the silent protagonist's hometown, and where he attempted to meet his girlfriend at the very beginning of the game. |
| 858 | * WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: The El Nido archipelago is located somewhere in the ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' world, but the game never clarifies ''where'' in the world map it's located, particular in reference to the Zenan continent and it's oft-mentioned country of Porre. |
| 859 | ** Again, this is justified by [[spoiler:FATE]]'s meddling; the entire archipelago was [[spoiler:artificially created in a bare patch of ocean]], so it wouldn't have been possible to spot it in ''Trigger''. By game's end, the whole region turns into a war zone being fought over between temporally-displaced factions. |
| 860 | * WhiteHairBlackHeart: Karsh looks like one of these at first glance, being the first humanoid boss you fight (not counting [[GoldfishPoopGang Solt and Peppor]], who fight alongside him), along with having the standard silver hair. However, he's not evil, just efficient at his job [[spoiler:(and ashamed of having to kill his BrainwashedAndCrazy best friend)]], and later, he joins the party. |
| 861 | * WhiteMagicianGirl: Among its massive cast of playable characters, the game has [[ProperLady Lady Riddel]], whose techs are all dedicated to support roles like healing or buffing. There's a few other characters that could be played similarly, like [[GirlNextDoor Leena]] or [[OurMermaidsAreDifferent Irenes]]. |
| 862 | * WildMan: Leah is a Wild ''Woman'' from the prehistoric past, and has a few of Ayla's special attacks too. |
| 863 | * WindIsGreen: Inverted. Wind, along with [[GreenThumb nature]], is a manifestation of the Green element. |
| 864 | * AWinnerIsYou: The normal ending: the [[spoiler:Time Devourer]] breaks apart and vanishes into a portal, then you get a black screen with the word 'Fin' in the corner. Getting the good ending is a big GuideDangIt. |
| 865 | * WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: [[spoiler:Schala, the FriendToAllLivingThings from the first game, fused with Lavos and formed the Time Devourer, which wants to destroy all of existence.]] |
| 866 | ** The DS re-release of ''Trigger'' elaborates on this a bit: [[spoiler:because of the intense hardship of her life, Schala deeply wished for all the horrible things in the world to have never occurred... or in fact, for everything about the world to have never occurred, which gave Lavos an opening to take over her soul.]] |
| 867 | * WordSaladLyrics: Used by a random NPC. "Lah lala lalah! / I don't need a recipe book / Because I'm the happy cook / Who feeds the people gook! |
| 868 | * WorkingTitle: Project Kid is the name of a project InUniverse. |
| 869 | * WorldHalfEmpty: Surprisingly, Home World is mostly bleaker than the world in which Serge died; Porre has invaded, the Dragoons are wiped out and Termina is under occupation. Worst of all, [[spoiler:The Day of Lavos will actually occur in Home World's future - something Crono and co. fought to prevent.]] |
| 870 | * WrestlerInAllOfUs: The game had a boss whose moves were all given professional wrestling names. With no attention to what the moves actually were. His move "powerbomb", for example, is more of a frog splash that hits the entire party. |
| 871 | ** It also has Greco, an ex-pro wrestler priest based off of the real life Fray Tormenta. |
| 872 | * XMarksTheHero: Glenn. Due to SpriteMirroring, it's hard to say whether he has these on both cheeks or just one. And this is only the kid brother of the ''really'' heroic knight. |
| 873 | * YinYangBomb: This is a feature of an optional character, Pip/Tumalu. You can evolve him as light/light, dark/dark, or light/dark (or dark/light, works the same way). The third is often considered the best standalone. [[spoiler:Also, to get the GoodEnding, you have to pull this trope off with all three Element color conflicts (white/black, red/blue, yellow/green; these represent light and space/gravity and hell, fire and lava/water and ice, and earth and lightning/nature and wind.]] |
| 874 | * YouBastard: The game throws this at you after you kill the Hydra - not only is it revealed that it was the last of its kind, but [[spoiler: it was pregnant]]. |
| 875 | * YouCantFightFate: Numerous characters will express this to you over the course of the game. Whether or not you can is the DrivingQuestion that represents the game's central philosophical theme. It turns out, you [[spoiler:can. Quite literally. It's a BossBattle]]! [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Things don't exactly go smoothly afterwards...]] |
| 876 | ** You get several opportunities (and multiple playthroughs) to try and avoid [[spoiler:the stabbing scene]] which was foreshadowed in the opening sequences. It doesn't work. |
| 877 | * YouCantGoHomeAgain: This seems to be Serge's lot in life. In the alternate universe, none of his friends or family recognize him, and when he finally gets back, he's [[spoiler:in Lynx's body]]. |
| 878 | * YouDontLookLikeYou: Schala in ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' is a tall girl with blue hair. In ''Chrono Cross'', she's short and blonde. |
| 879 | * YourFavorite: Inverted in one optional ending: the player can ask Harle for "your specialty" when she asks what he wants for dinner. |
| 880 | * YouWillNotEvadeMe: What happens if you run away from boss fights. At least it gives your party members time to heal. |
| 881 | * YowiesAndBunyipsAndDropBearsOhMy: The game featured a boss fight with a Bunyip. It started the fight as a fire-elemental, vaguely salamander-like thing. Then it opened its mouth... and kept opening its mouth... and a giant cyclopean shadow monster grew out of its body. |
| 882 | [[/folder]] |
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